


Second Meeting

by Porcelain_Hell



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-04
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2017-12-17 17:04:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 48,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/869907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Porcelain_Hell/pseuds/Porcelain_Hell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nico was young he considered a boy with curly hair and a huge smile to be his best friend. He didn't know the boy for long, he didn't even know his name, before the boy vanished. Nico grew up and the world seemed to be against him. He landed himself in a school for 'troubled' kids, and his room mate is irritatingly happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Nico Wrecks a Library

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own the characters...or the books;(

~~~oOo~~~

When Nico was in kindergarten he wasn't a very social kid. It wasn't that he didn't like people. It was more that he didn't know how to interact with them. He'd grown up, to that point, with his sister always being there for him. She was always with him, wherever they went, whenever they went. No matter what. And he always chose her company over that of children his own age. It worked out just fine. Until school came along. Preschool wasn't too bad. It was only for a couple hours a day, and you didn't do much other than sit around and build with blocks or eat a slice of apple or something. But Kindergarten was different.

Nico was expected to play with the other children, to talk with them, even to work on projects with them. But the worst part by far was recess. Since the class was only from noon to three, there was no need for a lunch, but they still got a recess. It seemed like each session went on for hours. Nico usually sat on top of the grassy hill, leaning against the fence of the playground, watching the other kids play. He'd spent the first one looking for his sister there. She'd said that's where she'd meet him during recess. He never found her. And that night, she explained to him that they had different recesses.

For the first month of school, Nico sat on his hill and played a card game, Mythomagic. He didn't really mind. As long as Bianca, his sister, was there to play with after school, he didn't see why it mattered if he had friends at school. He was fine sitting alone playing with cards, watching as other kids ran around together.

Then, one day, a boy who must've been closer to Bianca's age then Nico's ran up the hill and plopped down next to him. The boy's elfish ears poked through a mess of curly black hair, his eyes were brown and his smile took up his whole face. Nico was slightly taken aback that anyone would come sit with him, and even more surprised that it was clearly an older kid who'd decided to come over. Even in kindergarten, it was a well known fact that older kids were too cool to so much as talk to younger ones.

"Hi!" The boy greeted him, practically bouncing up and down. Nico had meant to speak, but before he could the boy spoke again, "What's that you're playing?"

"Uhh...a card game."

"Awesome! Show me how it works?" And that was how their strange friendship began. Everyday at recess the boy would come and find him. They'd play Mythomagic, and sometimes they'd just talk. It lasted until near the end of the year. One day, the boy wasn't anywhere. He wasn't there next day, either. A week passed, and still he was missing. Nico never saw the boy again. He hadn't even exchanged names with the person he considered his best friend(after Bianca, of course).

Over the next four years Nico made friends. Not many, but he was completely happy with the three he had. Plus Bianca. And things were going pretty well, until the winter of fourth grade. That was when things changed. Again. Bianca had been...off almost that entire year. She was more easily upset, and she talked and smiled less. And, during christmas break, a strange lady who introduced herself as Miss A came to visit. She talked with everyone in the family, except for Nico. He was told that the discussion had nothing to do with him. Once Miss A left, Nico was beckoned into the family room.

"Bianca has made a decision to go to boarding school," his mother started to explain. He learned that she was going to an all girls boarding school, a school with a wonderful archery and hunting program. Nico didn't know why Bianca would want to go to such a place. First off, she had never shown any interest in hunting, so why go to a school for hunting? And then, and most importantly, it was boarding school, as in at the school and not at home with her family like she should be. Nico yelled at her, told her that she was dumb, asked her how she could abandon him. She kept trying to explain, but Nico would have none of it. He went to his room and locked the door. When he came out the next day, Bianca had already left for school.

About a month went by before the next blow was delivered. He came home from a Mythomagic tournament to find his mother in tears, and his father comforting her gravely. He was scared, as he should've been, to go to his parents and ask what had happened. He didn't need to. His father walked to him, got down on his knees and looked into Nico's eyes.

"Bianca has died," was all he said. Those words were probably what changed his life the most. He never found out the details of her death. Something about an important hunting trip and a heroic sacrifice on her part. Three days after the horrid news, a small package arrived for Nico. From Bianca. It had been sent the day she died. He didn't open it. He couldn't. He shoved it in the pocket of his too-big jacket and left it there.

After his sister's death, Nico withdrew from people. He lost the three friends he had. More of pushed them away, really. He stopped playing Mythomagic. Most of his cards got torn up in fits of fury and tossed about his room.

Four years passed and he couldn't have been more different than he was eight years ago. He was always alone, but now he was unapproachable. Gloomy. Always scowling. Never smiling. He never played any sort of game. Mostly, he read. And when he wasn't reading, he was taking his anger out on a punching bag.

He liked to read. Especially leather bound books. They were his favorite, no matter what the actual book was. This was because of Bianca. She'd always talked about how beautiful the leather bound books were, the ones with the gold leafed paper and built in ribbon bookmarks. Nico liked to read them for her. To feel a connection with his big sister, even if it was through reading musty old books.

Because of his recent love for literature, Nico spent most his time in some library or another. He was in the school library, eating lunch, when AJ and Griffin came in.

"Hey, Death Boy," AJ called. Nico inwardly rolled his eyes. People often assumed he was Goth, Emo, Punk or into death. But he wasn't. He wore dark colors, mostly black, and a big, dark brown aviator jacket, and his hair was shaggy because he didn't care enough to do anything with it other than cut it off with his pocket knife when it got in his way. That did not make him some devil worshiper. But, whatever. Like he cared what these dumb shits thought of him.

"You better pay attention when we talk to you!" Griffin warned.

"What do you want?" Easier to just talk with them. They wouldn't give up and just leave.

"You had a sister, right?" Griffin asked, smiling in the way that meant he knew Nico was sour around that subject.

"Don't." He said simply, trying to turn away before anything happened.

"I heard she swore off boys before she died," AJ sneered.

"Does that mean she went lesbian? Shame about that. She was a hot one."

"Definitely worth a night."

"If she weren't dead, I think I could turn her straight," Griffin gloated.

Nico was really trying to ignore them. His way out was blocked. He was trapped in an isle of books with one jackass blocking each end. Their comments weren't new. Since Bianca's death, Nico and heard that she'd publicly declared she would never mingle with men. So the whole lesbian thing wasn't a surprising rummar. The thing was, Nico honestly couldn't have cared less what gender of lover his sister wanted. She could've fallen in love with a horse and he'd've been happy. He just wanted her alive.

"I wonder what happened to make her hate guys..." AJ again.

"Hmmm...I've heard some pretty interesting things about that,"

Nico clenched his hands into fists. He didn't want to get into a fight. Well, yes, he did. But he knew he couldn't afford to. He'd been doing so well lately. He hardly ever got into arguments, and even fewer physical brawls. He only got sent to the office a few times a month. With the idiots he was forced to be around, he was proud of himself for not even killing anyone. But the last time he'd talked to the principal, she'd warned him that he shouldn't push his luck, he could still get expelled. Nico found the 'push your luck' bit ironic. Because he was so lucky.

"Do tell me what you've heard about it, Griffin."

"Why, certainly, AJ. You see, I hear that her father-" That's when Nico broke. He didn't need to hear the rest of that statement, he already knew where it was going. But he wished he didn't. He charged at Griffin, slamming him into a bookshelf, causing the whole thing to collapse. He kicked him hard in the gut, then ran at AJ and punched him in the face. He heard the librarian screaming, but he didn't stop. He kept punching and kicking until he was pulled away by the PE teacher.

"My office, NOW!" The principal, Mrs. Alps, yelled at Nico. He shuffled towards the door, then looked back at the Ms. Jayne, the librarian.

"I'm sorry about the library. I hadn't meant to harm it." His apology got a startled half smile out of her.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico sat slouched in his regular chair in the office. His parents were having a heated discussion with Mrs. Alps, but he couldn't be bothered to listen in. Later in the evening, when he was told that he'd been expelled, it came as no real shock. He didn't care. He'd miss the library, and Ms. Jayne, but that was it. His parents, on the other hand, were furious.

"Nico, how many times have we had this talk?" His mom asked, stern, but tired.

"I've lost count," Nico shrugged. He wasn’t even be snarky. He’d honestly lost track.

"You're getting out of control," his father stepped in, "and your mother and I think it's best if we send you to a private school for...troubled children such as yourself."

"Fine."

"Go upstairs and pack, you leave in two days."  
Nico did as he was told. He didn't have much to pack, so he was finished and ready to go before he even went to bed that night. His bag was mostly filled books. He figured he'd need them. Especially if he was expected to deal with 'troubled' kids.


	2. In Which Leo Smiles A Lot

DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING! If I did, trust me, you'd know. There'd be a good amount of slash and a butt load of fluff.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico followed the boy, Howard, down a long hall with a lot of doors, probably leading off into dorm rooms. So far, Crapemyrtle Academy had proven to be a pretty creepy place. Nico wasn't scared, but it was undeniably creepy. It was old and big, and looked more like a castle then a school. Or maybe one of those old fashioned churches. Nico'd gone to one once for a field trip, and the feeling he got here was more or less the same as the one he got there.

"Here we are," Howard stopped at one of doors, one with a big, faded 49 on it. Howard unlocked the door then tossed Nico the key, "You'll be rooming with a Sophomore because there aren't any other rooms available, good luck, kid." He started to walk off, then turned to say one last thing, "And one more thing, short stuff, if I were you, I wouldn't touch a thing in that room other than the empty bed. Valdez has a thing for booby traps and explosions."

Nico watched Howard retreat down the hallway. Great. Just great. He had a crazy explosives sophomore for a roommate. That was just about the only thing he had learned from the two hour tour with Howard. They'd gone around the school, poking their heads into random, irrelevant classrooms, such as the AP English 12 class. Nico had no idea why it was necessary to drop in there seeing as he was only 14. But that hadn't been as weird as when Howard marched him into the girl's locker room and then promptly told him that he should never visit the girl's locker room, because the girls weren't exactly forgiving about it. Nico got about eleven shoes, three hair brushed, five deodorant sticks and a bra thrown at him during his stay. He would not be going again.

And so, here he was, the evening before he was expected to start classes without knowing a thing of importance. They hadn't even been to any of the classes Nico actually had. He sighed and hunkered down on the empty bed. His bag had been dropped at it's side, probably while Nico was on his grand and useless adventure with Howard. But there wasn't much Nico could do about that now. So he rifled through his bag and drew out a beautiful leather bound book. He leaned back on his bed and opened the book.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico heard the door open. He didn't even glance up from his book.

"You must be Nico de Angelo!" The voice was chipper. Nico ignored it. But his roommate didn't take the hint, "I'm Leo Valdez, nice to meet you!" This boy really was much too happy. Nico elected to continue reading. "Judging by how this room, and the school, is still intact, I take it that you aren't particularly nosey." Nico hardly even registered what Leo was saying that time. But he kept going, "That a good book? It must be for you to be so into it. Nice binding too."

Nico still kept his eyes glued to his book. What was it that people didn't get about the whole not talking to someone who is busy thing? It was pretty obvious that Nico was busy reading his book, and therefor Leo should've left him alone. But the boy refused to. It was aggravating.

"What book is it?" No reply. "You a big reader, then?" Okay, by now it should've been plain for Leo to see that Nico did not have any interest in taking. He should've just given up and stopped talking. But he didn't. And if he kept it up, Nico might be forced to interact with him. And that would be fun. Because Nico just adored people.

"So, how'd you get landed here?" Leo asked. Silence. "You know, this is when you're supposed to answer me. Actually, there have been a number of openings were you could've, even should've talked to me," he pointed out, chuckling good naturedly.

"Then by now you should've gathered that I. Do. Not. Want. To. Talk." Nico hardly even looked at his irritatingly social roommate as he said it. But he did glimpse black curls pouring from the boy's head, and a smile that seemed as if it was there to stay.

"Aw, c'mon man. No need to be so mean. I'm just trying to hold up polite conversation, and you, sir, are making it very difficult." There was a smile in his voice. If Nico was making conversation difficult, he needed to step it up a notch, make it impossible. He refused to say another word.

It seemed to be working. Leo had stopped talking, but Nico was almost positive that he was watching him, with that stupid smile still in place. Nico kept reading. He didn't notice that Leo had been edging closer until the boy was ten inches from his face. Staring. Smiling. Was he even blinking? Nico slammed his book shut so hard that it made Leo jump, but he regained control at once.

"Stop it." Nico demanded, glaring at Leo. Leo's smile got even bigger.

"You told me you didn't want to talk," he didn't budge from his spot.

"Right. So, staring at me like a creeper is obviously the thing to do."

"Absolutely."

"Are you really that bored?"

"I'm always bored. But you seem interesting enough."

"You don't know a thing about me."

"Exactly! Well, almost. I know you like books, and probably hate people. Or maybe today's just not your day. Or you could just hate me personally."

"Alright, I like books. I hate people. Today is not my day. And I am very close to personally hating you. There, now you all you need to. So get away fro me." Nico didn't wait for an answer, he just reopened his book and continued to read. He heard Leo laugh, but thankfully, the boy backed off and went to tinkering with something at the desk. Nico really hoped that not everyone in this stupid school was as social and persistent as his roommate. And he wouldn't mind if they didn't smile as much. It was unnerving, having someone smile at you all the time.


	3. In Which Nico is an Alibi

DISCLAIMER: I sadly own nothing. If I did, This wouldn’t be a fanfiction, would it?

~~~oOo~~~

Nico was woken up the next morning by what sounded like an explosion. Now, most people would jump out of bed if they thought there was danger. Not Nico Di Angelo. No way. He was not a morning person, and nothing, not even the threat of death, could make him jump out of bed. No, instead he groggily turned over to face the room, wiping the sleep away from his eyes as he scanned his surroundings. He spotted the source of the explosion at once. It came from Leo’s side of the room(really, where else would it have come from?), next to the boy’s bed there was a blackened and smoking...thing. Leo was standing next to it, brushing soot off his jeans and smiling sheepishly.

“How are you still alive?” Nico asked, finally sitting up.

“What?” Leo looked rather surprised that Nico was up. Nico didn’t know why, seeing as there had been an explosion, and that wakes anyone up.

“I am wondering how you haven’t killed yourself yet.” Leo blinked at him for a bit, then broke out in a grin.

“Oh you know, I have major skills in the ‘staying alive’ department. Although, I might have exploded my last roommate,” he winked at Nico with a smile. Nico scowled back.

“Right. Well, you’ve managed to steal,” Nico checked his watch, “ten good minutes of my sleep. I will get you back for that.” He stomped out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready, he heard Leo mutter a ‘Ohhh, now I’m really scared’ but didn’t bother to respond.

~~~oOo~~~

When Nico was finished getting ready, his roommate was already gone. It occurred to Nico that asking Leo for help would have been a smart move. Not that he would have asked the annoying shit for help if he’d thought of it any sooner, but it was nice to be grumpy about everything that there was to be grumpy about. Nico grabbed his bag and headed out into the great beyond. He got lost immediately. He hadn't even made his way out of the dorms when he heard a bell ring through the empty halls.

“Great. Just great.” He muttered to himself as he turned in the direction he’d come, planning on finding his way back to his room and falling back into bed. He’d try this again tomorrow. Maybe. Or he could just not go to any classes and see how long it took to be expelled. Then he could try again. At a different school. Hopefully with a better layout, a more helpful tour guide, and a less irritating roommate. With any luck, no roommate at all. Nico liked this idea more and more and decided that it was definitely the way to go. He’d made it back to his hall when a certain smiling pyromaniac appeared. Except he wasn’t smiling in any sane sort of way. He looked completely crazy, smiling like a madman and running full speed. Right at Nico. Nico tried to dive out of the way before Leo got to him, but he didn’t make it, instead Leo grabbed his arm and pulled him along with a mad cackle. Nico was forced to run along or fall flat on his face. As much as he hated running, he figured it was better than falling. So he ran. Leo tugged him into the first bathroom they came across(boys’, thankfully). They both stood there, heaving, Leo still smiling like a maniac.

“What is happening?” Nico finally spat out, pulling his arm from Leo’s grip. Leo gave one last huge smile before turning deathly serious.

“Absolutely nothing. I am helping you around the school today because Howard’s useless. And, as your roommate, it is my responsibility to help you through your first day. We took a break from your English class because you needed to use the bathroom.”

“Wait...how did you know I’m supposed to be in English?” It was only one of the things that Nico was confused about, but he had a suspicion that Leo had been snooping about his stuff last night. Leo’s brief smile confirmed his suspicion. “You went through my things. You set traps on yours and then you look through mine! You hypocritical-” He didn’t have time to finish because Leo had grabbed his arm again and was propelling them out of the door.

“Alright, now you know how to get to the bathroom. Let’s get back to the class. Do you remember where it is?” Leo was using his best snooty-teacher/condescending voice.

“I don’t.” Nico managed through gritted teeth. He was still fuzzy on what was happening. When he and Leo rounded a corner, they almost ran into a very aggravated looking teacher and two older boys.

“Valdez,” the teacher said, her voice conveying that she’d love to cut him into a million little pieces, “I know you were behind this so lets make this easy, shall we?” Then Nico understood. Leo had done something. And Nico was his alibi.

“Sorry, ma’am, but I believe you’re mistaken. I’ve been with my new roommate, Nico here, all day. Making sure he gets to his classes and such.” The teacher looked to Nico. He wanted to deny it. He really did. But for some reason the wrong words came out of his mouth.

“He’s been with me all day, we were just going back to English now.” Is what his stupid mouth decided to say. The lady frowned and then turned on her heels, the boys following behind her.

“Thanks, man. And there I was thinking that you were gonna make me pay for your ten minutes of sleep.” Leo was back to non stop smiling. Nico turned to him and glared.

“I will get you back. For my sleep, for your invasion of my privacy. And just because I dislike you. The thing is, you don’t know how I’ll get you, or when.” He wanted to stalk off, but he didn’t know where to go. “Now, take me to the stupid English room.”

“Of course, my good sir. Right this way.” Leo flourished his arm down the hall with a deep bow.


	4. In Which Nico Starts Pranking

DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to good old Uncle Rick. Although I disagree with his lack of Leco, I can do nothing about it. Other than write fanfiction. Which I am obviously doing.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico’s whole ‘get expelled and try a different school’ plan had hardly worked. Okay, it had completely failed. But at least he knew how to get around the stupid school now. More or less. And anyway, he had a promise to keep. Or more of a threat. Point is, he had to get back at Leo. And even though he maybe wasn’t sure exactly how he was going to do that, he would figure it out.

It was dinner time, and Nico had grabbed food and was now sitting at a corner table as far from people as he could. That’s how he liked it. Alone. Of course, Leo ruined that plan as well. The boy happily trotted up to him and just sat down. And he was completely inside Nico’s personal bubble. Nico was about to snap at Leo and insist he leave, but Leo spoke first.

“Aren’t you gonna ask?”

“No.” Nico didn’t know what Leo was talking about, but he didn’t care at all. He figured just saying no would get Leo to leave.

“You must be curious. I mean, come on, you were my get away. You must want to know what you got me away from.” Leo nudged him playfully with his shoulder. Nico carefully scooted away from him.

“Not at all.”

“Not even a little?” Leo looked at him, and Nico saw amusement and curiosity in his eyes.

“No.” That was kind of a lie. Nico almost wondered what Leo had done. But not enough to deal with a conversation. And it wasn’t a far fetched guess that Leo had just exploded something. Leo laughed and shook his head.

“You are one very interesting little dude.”

“Why? Because I don’t care to hear about every second of your day?”

“Hmmm, well that’s strange too, but I’d been talking about you in general.” Leo ruffled his hair. Nico hated people touching him, or his hair. And it was about then that Nico realized that Leo had somehow gotten into his personal bubble again. He was about to scoot over more, but he was sitting at the edge of the bench. So he tried pushing Leo away. This caused Leo to burst out into loud laughter and splutter, “Man, you are a riot!”

“Fine,” Nico stood up and tried storming away. Notice the use of the word ‘tried’. Leo, once again, made ‘did’ into ‘tried’. He grabbed Nico as he was leaving, pulling him back onto the bench on his other side. He kept an arm around Nico’s shoulders to keep him there. He was still laughing.

“Sorry dude, I didn’t realize you were one of those personal space junkies.”

“Yes you did. In fact, that probably makes you want to invade my personal space even more. Like you are now.” Nico glared at Leo and attempted to shrug off his arm. Leo tightened his grip, and his smile grew.

“Okay, I’ll admit to that. But you make the cutest grumpy faces when I piss you off.” That was definitely the first time Nico’s ‘grumpy faces’ had been called cute. He’d actually been pulled aside by cops and checked to make sure he wasn’t carrying a gun and planning on killing people. He decided that he wasn’t a fan of being called cute.

“Let go.” He hissed.

“See? You make it too easy, man. What do you expect?” Nico didn’t know how to respond. So he didn’t. He sat through the rest of dinner trying to keep a straight face. Leo would still occasionally look over at him and laugh. All the while, trying to get conversation started again. But Nico refused to speak. Instead, he thought up plans to get back at Leo. Most of them involved killing him, or severely injuring him. Unfortunately, Nico knew that those were all out. The rest were all petty and stupid. But hey, those were always fun.

~~~oOo~~~

When Nico got out of Leo’s grasp he headed right for their room. He prepped for his pranks(yes, he was going in the direction of a series of stupid pranks) and then read. Soon enough, Leo came in from dinner. Nico was pleased when he made no effort to talk, he just hummed and got ready for bed.

Luckily, Leo slept like a rock. The guy pretty much fell into bed and was as good as dead. Nico had already set up most of the pranks, the obvious and over used ones that were still pains in the ass. Ones like gluing all of Leo's shampoo/conditioner/soap bottles shut, hiding all of his left shoes, pouring glitter in his hairbrush(something that he’d seen in the campus store and gotten. Nico Di Angelo did not carry around glitter), and putting hard candy in the shower head. He’d needed to wait for Leo to get back so that he could replace all the tools in the toolbelt he always wore(really, who does that?) with fruit. When Nico went into the bathroom to duct tape the tools on the top of the inside of their bathroom cabinet(because no one would look there), he noticed two bathroom bags neatly tucked away in the corner. One was purple with horses running across it and the name Hazel Levesque was written along the top in looping writing. The second one was an orange and red patterned bag that gave Nico a headache just looking at it. It took a minute for his eyes to search out the hastily scribbled Piper McLean that sprawled across the front of the bag. Nico briefly wondered who the owners’ of the bags were. Both were girls, obviously. But beyond that? Nico had no clue. And it wasn’t his place to wonder either.

He closed the cabinet and was halfway to bed when a new prank idea hit him. He went back to the cabinet and looked through the bags(in a non-creepy way). After sifting through feminine products(Bianca had had them, so it wasn’t anything new), he found what he’d been looking for: lipstick. He smiled as he walked back to his sleeping roommate. He hoped that one of the girls was Leo’s girlfriend. That would make things more interesting.


	5. In Which Nico, More or Less, Makes Friends

DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me. Sometimes I cry about it, but that doesn’t change a thing.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico woke up right when he wanted to, so that was a plus. And a great start to what he was sure would be a great day. And Nico hated most days. He never anticipated great days, and he never got them. But today was different. Leo was already up, and Nico almost smiled when he saw him. Great day, indeed. Leo was fiddling with the black out curtains Nico had put up last night. Nico was not a fan of light, especially when it woke him up in the mornings.

“What is this?” Leo didn’t sound all too pleased. He seemed to be having a hard time pulling the curtains open. “Is this a prank or something? To get back at me, or whatever? Because I gotta say, it’s lame.”

“That’s not something I did to irritate you. I did that for my own comfort.” Nico now felt like laughing. He’d safety pinned the curtains together to keep out that aggravating crack of light that sneaks in between them. But it pissing Leo off was a great bonus.

“Why won’t it open?” Leo demanded.

“Magic. Anyway, if you can’t figure out how to open curtains, you really are a danger to yourself.” Nico made his way into the bathroom to get ready.

As he came out, he saw that Leo had successfully opened the curtains. He was leaning against the wall looking mighty proud of himself. Nico wasn’t sure if it was hilarious or pathetic. He went with both.

“Safety Pins! Who does that? Pins the curtains together, I mean.”

“I don’t like light. And I will be pinning them again tonight.” Nico informed him as he headed for the door. Leo laughed.

“What are you, a vampire?”

~~~oOo~~~

Unfortunately, Leo was a year ahead of Nico, and so they shared no classes. Usually, this was a good thing. No one bothered, or even got near him during the day, and that was the way he liked it. But today was different. He wanted to watch his pranks unfold. He’d had to miss the first bit in the morning because being confronted about it so early in the game would be no fun. However, people had been talking excitedly and laughing a lot, and Nico was pretty sure that they were glancing his way. Obviously, Leo hadn’t been able to clean up after all of the traps he’d set. And Nico was fully looking forward to lunch when he’d be able to see his handiwork in the flesh. As it was, he’d only finished up second period, and still had third to go. While walking to his art foundations two class(required by the school) he was stopped by a tall boy with sea-green eyes and black hair. And he was smiling. Nico had learned that smiling people were never people he liked.

“You’re Leo’s new roommate, right?” The boy asked. Nico nodded. “So that was you, right?” Nico waited for him to expand on what he meant. He did, “You pranked him and stuff?”

“Yes,” Nico couldn’t help but smile a little. The boy laughed.

“I’m Percy Jackson, and I think I like you, kid. What’d he do to earn your wrath?”

“He’s annoying and just plain deserved it, beyond that, he violated my personal property and space, as well as woke me up early.”

“Yup, I definitely like you. Nico, right? Leo was cursing at you earlier. It’s been awhile since someone caused an uproar, so it was only a matter of time before someone started something. And it doesn’t get much better than a prank war.” 

“It wasn’t my intention to start a war.” Although it made no difference to him. So long as he got even with Leo, it was all good.

“At this school, we grab onto any excuse to cause trouble.” Percy informed him.

“The teacher’s must love their lives.” Nico muttered. Percy laughed.

“You’ll never meet happier people.” And with that Percy turned down a different hall and Nico decided that maybe that particular smiling person wasn’t so bad.

When Nico got to class he sat down at the table in the back of the room and waited for the bell to ring. To his surprise, someone sat down next to him. Another smiling person. Though, he had had good luck with them today, so perhaps this wouldn’t be too horrible. He frowned at his own optimism. The girl who’d sat down was a pretty, but young looking, black girl with lively and kind eyes.

“Hi, I’m Hazel. You’re Nico, right?” Well, wasn’t he popular today.

“Mhm,” was his brilliant way of answering. But the girl’s name seemed familiar. Hazel. Was she Hazel Levesque? The owner of one of the bags from last night? He almost asked, but didn’t. That would be too creepy. ‘Hey, do you happen to have a bathroom bag under the sink in my room?’

“I’m Leo’s friend,” She paused to laugh, “and I must say that I love his new makeover, you did a great job with it.”

“Who says I did anything?”

“Leo does. Only half the school completely believes that, though.” When Nico said nothing, she kept speaking(Nico really wished people would just let a conversation die), “You’re new, aren’t you?”

“It’s my second day here,” Nico confirmed.

“And you’ve already caused trouble. That’s pretty impressive. You’re a sophomore, right? Like Leo?”

“No. They put me in his room because it was the only one that wasn’t full. Technically I’m suppose to be in eighth grade, but my parents wanted me at this school, so I took a test and basically skipped a grade, so I’m a freshman.” Nico usually didn’t offer information about himself, and was annoyed that he’d said so much. But Hazel smiled.

“Really? I’m meant to be in seventh grade! But my step dad works here, and he pulled some strings to get me into ninth grade here.”

Class started, and Hazel talked to him occasionally, but thankfully let the conversations die without a fight. Nico found that he didn’t mind her company. They had to make sketchbooks with a personalized cover. Hazel drew horses on hers, and that made Nico sure that she was the Hazel he’d thought. He drew greek gods at war, complete with casualties. Hazel leaned over as he was starting to color(that was part of the assignment, although Nico would’ve liked it to stay in simple pencil. He settled on dark colors).

“That’s really good! Where’d you learn to draw like that?” Nico didn’t feel like sharing that he took drawing classes when he was younger so that he could make detailed comics of Mythomagic. So he just shrugged and murmured an awkward thanks. When the bell rang, Hazel insisted they have lunch together, telling him that her friend really wanted to meet the person that’d pranked Leo Valdez. Nico wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t say no to Hazel, which angered him greatly. Hazel sat him down at a table with a girl she had called Piper. Probably the owner of the other bag. The girls started talking, and Nico was relieved that they kept him out of it for the most part.

“God, it’s surprising every time I see him,” Piper laughed. Nico barely registered that she meant Leo when a voice rang across the cafeteria.

“NICO DI ANGELO YOU ARE ONE DEAD LITTLE BASTARD!” Nico didn’t have to turn to know that Leo was stomping towards him, and he smiled.


	6. In Which Leo Looks Like a Whore

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. I’m crossing my fingers for Christmas, though;)

Also, just saying, there is swearing in this, so yeah.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico swiveled in his seat to watch as Leo made his way through the, now very quiet, eating area. His smile turned to a grin. Leo was fuming, his face was red and he was making some very interesting gestures. Glitter flew from Leo’s hair(which Nico had slicked back the night before, and now looked rather rumpled), creating a trail of sparkles behind him, and his tool belt was half empty and half filled with fruit. But the best part was that he was covered in phone numbers and lipstick marks. Nico had also provided him with some fake hickeys(Nico’s mom had a makeup guy that had taught Nico some fun costume makeup tricks), as well as a specially modified colored, low plunging v-neck shirt(his other shirts were hidden in pillow cases). He looked like an angry stripper. Or gigolo. Nico thought that a dildo super-glued to Leo’s tool belt would really have topped off the look, but unfortunately(or rather, fortunately) he had been unable to find one.

“Good afternoon. I see you had a fun night,” Nico said pleasantly when Leo arrived, towering over him in his seat.

“Fuck you,” Leo snarled. Hazel gasped at his foul language.

“I don’t think you are in need of anymore fucking. So thanks, but no thanks.” Nico’s grin was still in place, and Hazel was now fanning herself with her hand profusely. Piper tried to cover a laugh and Leo went red. Or more red, really. He reached for the spot in his belt that usually held a hammer. Nico raised his eyebrows, “You’re going to beat me with a banana?” Leo paused for a moment, then he shrugged, grabbed the banana out of his belt and threw it at Nico. Nico hadn’t been expecting that, but he picked up the fruit and peeled it. He muttered ‘kinky’ right before taking a bite.

“Seriously man, what the hell is wrong with you?” Leo demanded.

“Why, whatever do you mean?” Nico asked innocently, still eating the banana.

“Oh don’t go playing that game, you little shit. I know you’re demon spawn!”

“Hmm. Good point. But I don’t know why you’re bringing it up now. I haven’t done a thing to you. But, I do hear that karma’s a bitch.”

“So, let me get this straight. I wake you up ten minutes early, so you hide my tools, fuck up the shower, and make me look like some man whore?”

“That doesn’t sound quite fair, now does it? Ten minutes of sleep is worth much more than that. I might have to have a talk with karma.” Nico got up, intending to throw away his banana peel, but Leo grabbed his jacket and leaned into Nico’s ear.

“I will accidentally set off an explosion that catches you and your stupid books on fire.” His whisper was so quiet that Nico barely heard it. It was hard to believe that such a loud guy could be almost inaudible. Leo shoved Nico hard and then stormed off again, speaking loudly in Spanish(most likely more words that Hazel would gasp at).

“What did he say?” Piper asked.

“I think he just threatened to kill me.”

“Like, seriously, or joking?”

“Sounded pretty serious to me.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go to your room until he calms down.” Hazel said, brow furrowed in concern.

“And leave the psycho alone with my books? No way. Besides, I don’t back down from a challenge. It’s not like he’ll actually kill me.”

“He might.” Hazel insisted.

“Nico’s right. Probably.” Piper chimed in.

~~~oOo~~~

When Nico got back to his room, Leo was already there, lounging on his bed. He looked the same as he had that afternoon. He clearly had not managed to scrub off the makeup or sharpie, and his hair was still haphazardly gelled and completely glittery(Nico assumed that he hadn’t figured out what was wrong with the shower beyond that it was sticky, so he hadn’t been able to wash his hair). And his shirts and tools still seemed to be missing. Nico smiled again. It was hard not to, looking at Leo. Okay, that sounded wrong. It was hard not to smile when looking at something so ridiculous. There, much better.

“Go ahead and smile. Might as well make up for lost time before you’re dead.” Leo said, face completely serious. 

“You don’t have the guts to kill, or deal with the aftermath of murder. So stop trying to be a badass, and shut up.”

“You know what? You suck. I am a very nice person. Or at least an insanely awesome one-”

“The ‘insane’ bit is all you got right.”

“-and I was nice to you. Even though you’re an ass. A grumpy, poopy ass. I was happily being your friend! And you just threw that niceness I was giving you away! Because I happened to know you have English first period, and I woke you up a bit early. You have been promoted from regular grumpy poopy ass to The Mega Lord Of Poopiness And Asshattery And Stupidness And Grumpiness And Over-Reacting-Drama-Queeness and I hate you.”

“You done?” Nico asked, not at all offended, his smile hadn’t even faded. Leo didn’t answer so Nico went over to his own bed and pulled out a book. He saw Leo glance at him from the corner of his eye, but didn’t react. It wasn’t very long before Leo started to talk again. He must really love the sound of his own voice.

“Are they real?”

“Unicorns? Leprechauns? Elfs? Cats? Are what real?” Nico glanced up from The Jungle Book and gave his attention to Leo, he was fun to look at, after all.

“The hickeys. I’ve been trying to get them of all day, but they won’t budge. So, are they fake, or...?” Leo waggled his eyebrows suggestively. That wasn’t what Nico had been expecting. In fact, it hadn’t even occurred to him that Leo would even wonder how Nico had gotten him to look that way. His smile turned to a tight frown and he felt a blush creep up his back.

“No. They’re not real. But it should be awhile before they come off.”

“Right. Thought I’d check, because I would’ve slept through that, you know? And what about the phone numbers? Did you hide yours in this mess?” He gestured along his arms.

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Do you think that this was my way of elaborately hitting on you, or something?-”

“Well, it would be understandable-”

“Because it’s not. No, I did not give you hickeys. No, I did not give you my number. No, I am not hitting on you.”

“You can say that, but think about. You must have had to kiss me-”

“I never-”

“Yes. You did.” Leo pointed to a few of the lipstick smears and kiss marks that covered him, then raised his eyebrows at Nico. “There is no way you can convince me that you made perfect kiss marks without using lips. And you didn’t know the girls ‘till today, so no way did you get them to lend you their lips. Wow, that came out wrong. But you know what I mean."

Nico was completely red. Yes, he had had to wear the damn lipsticks(several because multiple colors made the whole whore thing more convincing) and.... And, well, kiss Leo(in a non romantic way, it was all for the greater good and had to be done). "I did what was necessary to get what I wanted," he said steadily, the blush finally easing up.

"You mean Leo lovin'?" Leo's eyebrows went back to suggestively waggling. Nico’s blush returned. And then he realized that Leo wasn’t even upset anymore, and that made him mad. Because now Leo was the one having fun(his eyebrow waggling marathon had yet to end, and he was smiling full on).

Nico ignored him for the rest of the evening, which was mostly spent doing homework, and some reading. When the lights were off and he was almost asleep, he heard Leo say, “I’m still not above setting you on fire.” He figured that maybe he should be a little worried. Not enough to do anything about it, but still.


	7. In Which Nico Throws a Book

DISCLAIMER: These characters aren’t mine. Sorry to disappoint.

Again, there is swearing here, so if that bothers you, I’m sorry.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico was surprised when Hazel sat with him in English the next day. It wasn’t even an unpleasant surprise. Hazel smiled at him and commented on how he was still alive, and Nico replied by asking if she’d honestly thought Leo would kill him. She thought about it for a moment before answering that Leo was too sweet to kill anyone, but if he did murder someone it would definitely be Nico. That made him smile a bit. Hazel was easy to talk with, and just be around in comfortable silence.

Class started and was exceptionally boring. The teacher was going on about how disappointed he is in today’s youth. Which was unreasonable, really. Sure, most of the morons on the planet sucked, but Nico fit all of the ‘perfect human being’ criteria that Mr. Brennet was spouting out. He read, and he read the ‘right’ books in Mr. Brennet’s mind, he knew how to speak properly, as well as write with flawless grammar, and he was smart(he just didn’t get good grades). After a good ten minutes of listening to Mr. Brennet babble, Hazel rolled her eyes at Nico and scrawled a note on the corner of his paper.

‘what’s your schedule?’

‘Orange day-English, Math, Geography, Lunch, Science. Purple day- Comp. Tech, Greek, Art, Lunch, PE. You?’ He pushed the paper back towards Hazel when he’d finished. She glanced at it and then smiled widely.

‘Same! I just have Latin when you have Greek. Other than that we have the same classes!!!’ When Nico read her note, he smiled, and whispered ‘awesome’ to her. It was strange, having someone he wouldn’t rather be in a shack in Timbuktu than be with.

~~~oOo~~~

Nico and Hazel had stuck together through math and geography, and were on their way to lunch. He figured that they’d be sitting with Piper again today. He vaguely wondered if Leo would also be there. He was friends with the girls, afterall. And then Nico realized something.

“Why haven’t I been forced to interact with your friends during classes?” Nico asked Hazel. She went slightly pink and bit her lip.

“I don’t really have any friends my own age, so I don’t have any in class to make you interact with,” she mumbled, “But now we’re friends, right? And I only have Latin alone now, so it’s all good.” She shot him a smile, but Nico could see the worried look in her eyes.

“Yeah. We’re friends,” he smiled warmly and took her hand, the way Bianca used to take his when reassuring him. He watched as the tension in Hazel’s shoulders dissipated, and her smile turned from tentative to ecstatic.  
Nico spotted the table he’d sat at the previous day, Piper was already there. And so was Leo. When they got to the table, Nico noticed Leo’s eyes fall to his and Hazel’s clasped hands, then look up and raise an eyebrow at Nico. Nico narrowed his eyes at him in return, also taking in his appearance(he’d already been gone when Nico woke up). Leo’s hair was still helplessly sparkly(glitter’s a bitch to get out) and the hickeys and phone numbers still littered his body, although they were faded, and there were even a couple kisses left. He wore a bright orange t-shirt that he’d probably gotten from the student store at some point. Nico assumed that his belt was still empty of tools.

Moments after Nico and Hazel had slid into their place at the table, a tall blond boy seated himself next to Piper, wrapped an arm around her and kissed her on the cheek. When the boy noticed Nico he blinked a few times, clearly confused. Nico thought about being civil and introducing himself. He really did. But he decided against it. So he just sat there awkwardly as he was blinked at. Luckily, a familiar voice came to the rescue before too much awkward blinking occurred.

“Nico! Man, nice to see you,” Percy said, thumping Nico on the back and sitting down next to him, pulling a pretty blond girl with gray eyes down on his lap. She laughed and shoved Percy affectionately before scooting into the seat on his other side. “Oh yeah, Nico this is Annabeth,” it seemed like he had planned to continue, but Leo cut in, something he did a lot, Nico noticed.

“She’s the cleverest witch of her age.”

“Was that another reference?” The blond boy asked, looking amused and slightly lost.

“Jesus, Jason. Harry Potter. In reference to the time Sirius Black said to Hermione Granger; ‘You’re the cleverest witch of your age I’ve ever met’? No? are you kidding me, man? How do you not know that one?” Leo seemed genuinely baffled. Annabeth shook her head with a laugh and extended her hand to Nico.

“Nice to meet you.” Nico shook her hand. Her grip was firm and steady. Nico’s dad had always said you could judge a man by the way he shook hands. And if Annabeth’s shake was anything to go off of, then she was pretty okay in Nico’s book.

The topics at their table became uninteresting to Nico, and he only partially listened. Occasionally Hazel or Percy would start a side conversation with him, but even when he was sitting there completely not involved, he didn’t feel the need to run off to a corner. Or not as much as he usually did, anyway. He also noticed that Leo was deliberately avoiding looking at him. That was fine with him. Although, it was odd that Leo glanced at him when he pulled out his book(it was bound to happen sooner or later). Nico guessed he was probably thinking that it was weird and rude for him to read rather than talk with his company. Because it wouldn’t be the first time he’d heard that. But he wasn’t trying to be rude. He wasn’t saying that he was bored or that he didn’t want to be around the people he was with(that may usually be the case, but it wasn’t always), it was just that when he was reading he felt...safe and like all his worries just left him. And he figured he was doing everyone a favor, because when he was reading he wasn’t being awkward and not knowing where to rest his eyes or arms, or what the hell expression he should be wearing(he almost always settled for glare, and he was sure that that made people feel uncomfortable). So Leo could think what he thought, but it wasn’t going to make Nico surrender his protection.

Nico was reading The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes and was rather enjoying himself. Then he saw it. Sticky notes completely covered a good half a page, cramped writing filling them. Nico couldn’t help it. He was curious. He read the paragraphs leading up to the sticky notes and then proceeded to read the sticky notes themselves. And it all went downhill from there. Nico didn’t even finish reading before he felt himself go red. The sticky notes, as it turned out, held a detailed sex scene between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.

“Holy shit!” He may have said it louder than he’d meant to. He could hear Leo laughing. Leo. Of course. He also heard the chatter die down and knew everyone was looking at him. “What the fuck? No! Okay, just no! You do not get to just...I can not believe that you’d...Who does that? You’re fucking messed up!” And then Nico threw his book at Leo. Nico loved his books. He’d never do anything to hurt them. That’s how mad he was. Leo blocked his face with his arms and let the book hit him and then fall to his lap. He was still laughing, and everyone else was looking between the two of them, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Oh my god, dude, you should see your face!” Leo paused to laugh, “I can’t believe that one got you, it wasn’t even one of the best!”

“It wasn’t one of the...you mean there are more?” Nico shouted, and if he could have gone more red, he would’ve.

“More what?” Percy asked.

“More gay porn in my books!” Nico was pretty sure he screeched that out. Percy looked taken aback.

“Excuse you bitch, but not all of it is gay.” Leo sniggered. Hazel was fanning herself again, and everyone else was just kinda staring and blinking. And then Percy laughed. And that spurred Leo on, so he laughed harder, and then both of them were laughing so hard that half the lunch room was staring.

“It is not funny!” Nico protested, but all that did was cause Percy to fall into his remaining food from laughter. Then Annabeth laughed, and then Piper, and then Jason. And everyone was laughing. Except for Nico. And Hazel, she looked almost as mortified as Nico did.

“He...he wrote porn in your books?” Hazel asked, clearly disturbed by the idea.

“Not just porn, he wrote scarily accurate and detailed porn. Porn that makes you wonder why the hell he’s so good at writing it. And he wrote it. In my beautiful book. Apparently books.” Hazel’s eyes widened and they found their way to Leo, staring at him, scandalized. And that made them all laugh harder. “Oh, fuck you.” Nico directed the comment towards Leo as he rose from his seat.  
“I thought I didn’t need anymore fucking?” Leo stopped laughing just long enough to smirk. Nico grabbed Hazel(he wasn’t about to abandon her with a bunch of baboons laughing over the destruction by porn of literature) and left the cafeteria.


	8. In Which Nico Discovers Things

DISCLAIMER: I honestly have no clue why you’d even think I am anywhere close to owning these characters. BECAUSE I DO NOT OWN THEM OK.

~~~oOo~~~  


Nico and Hazel spent the rest of lunch outside, Nico fuming about his books all the while. In fact, he didn’t stop fuming about it all through science, or on his way to his room after school. When he opened the door, he found Leo, rummaging through a package. Nico glared at him and went over to his bed, pulling out his books from where they were stacked under the bed. He begun to flip through them and pull out the modifications that Leo had made.  


“That’s such a waste! You’re throwing away some of my best work!” Leo was grinning and had momentarily looked up from the box. A box, Nico realized, that was addressed to him, and not Leo. He abandoned his porn exterminating and grabbed the box in a not so polite way.  


“This is mine,” He growled. Leo rose his eyebrows, as if asking ‘so what?’, “why are you looking through my mail?”  


“Because I can. Nothing very interesting. A note from your girlfriend and some books. And, by the way, back off Hazel. She has a boyfriend, and you have a girlfriend, so that’s just wrong. Plus, you’re a little creep and you don’t deserve to even be friends with her.”  


“I don’t have a girlfriend, and I have no interest in making Hazel into mine.”  


“Don’t lie, I saw you holding her hand. And I read the note from your at-home-lover.”  


“What note?” Nico demanded, looking through the box and finding nothing but a couple of books.  


“This one,” Leo waved around a piece of paper.  


“Give that to me!” Nico reached for it, but Leo was easily able to keep it away from him.  


“I see you’re anxious to hear from your girlfriend,” Leo taunted.  


“I do not have a girlfriend! And I don’t know who’d be writing to me anyway, so give that to me.”  


“Oh please, it’s signed, ‘with love, Bianca’, you must know-” Leo stopped talking. Probably because of the look Nico was sure was on his face. He grabbed the letter from Leo, glancing at the signature. and there it was.  


“She’s not my girlfriend,” Nico whispered.  


“Then who is she?” Leo asked, giving Nico his best confused face.  


“My sister.” He shouldn’t be answering. Not to this boy and certainly not about this.  


“You don’t like her? What’s with the long face?”  


“None of your business.” Nico was looking through the box, unable to bring himself to read the note from Bianca. Under all the books was another letter. Nico ripped it open and read through it. It was from his mother. It said that the school Bianca had died at had finally gone through her possessions, and had found these things and returned them to the family. She said that it looked like most of it was for him, so she’d sent it along. That explained it. He shoved both letters back into the box and kicked it under the bed.  


“Aren’t you going to read it? Or look at the books?”  


“No.” That’s how he dealt with things. If he’d known that the items in the box had been Bianca’s, he wouldn’t have opened it. It would have stayed in its packaging, just like the parcel in his pocket.  


“Why?”  


“Because I won’t, okay?”  


“No, not okay. Do you hate your sister or something?”  


“Hate her? Hate her? No. Never.” He was about ready to break. To shout and cry and stomp and slam doors. But he didn’t.  


“Well that’s the only explanation for not even looking at the things she sent you.”  


“She didn’t send them. She couldn’t. She’s dead, Leo, she’s been dead for four years, and if I don’t want to go through my dead sister’s things, then I don’t have to!” He’d started yelling somewhere along the way, and he could feel tears brimming in his eyes. He didn’t want to talk about this. Not with anyone. But Leo was definitely at the bottom of his list to discuss dead relatives with. He turned on his bed to face the wall, sitting crosslegged and trying to stop the tears. And the panic. And all the things he’d been avoiding for four long years. There was a long stretch of silence, then Leo let out a soft laugh.  


“I guess we all have issues, right? That’s one of the requirements of being at this school. You’ve got to be messed up somehow, for some reason. And that’s yours, isn’t it? Your sister. It’s funny, because most of us are here for similar reasons. I’m here ‘cause of my mom, she died when I was eight. Percy, you know him, he’s here because he put his abusive step dad into a coma. His legitimate father supposedly stepped in and got him sent here. Piper has a movie star dad that doesn’t have time for her, and got fed up with her grabs for attention and sent her here. Jason came here because he’s got a crazy mom and his sister got recruited by some elite school, but she wouldn’t go if she had to leave her a brother with their mom alone, so Miss A dropped him here.-”  


“Miss A? Was it a school for hunting? When did she go there?” Nico turned around quickly, and Leo was surprised by the sudden avalanche of questions.  


“Um yeah, it was. Jason said he came here around four years ago. Why?”  


“Who’s his sister?”  


“Didn’t I just ask you a question? Her name’s Thalia. She visits Jason sometimes. Actually, come to think of it, she should be coming tomorrow.”  


“I need to talk to her.”  


Leo gave him a questioning look, “Okay, but don’t try anything funny with her. She’ll beat you up, and also she said she’s following an old friends legacy and refuses to date.”  


“I don’t want to date her.” Nico paused, realizing that he didn’t feel like crying or shouting. He glanced at Leo, who was still staring at him with furrowed brows. “Thank you, Leo.” Nico didn’t know if Leo knew that he was thanking him for not saying sorry, for not being surprised, for talking in that calming way, for sharing his and his friend’s problems, telling him he’s not alone, for chasing away the tears and the panic and the pain. Maybe he didn’t get it right then, but he nodded in acknowledgment.  


~~~oOo~~~  


During lunch the next day, Hazel asked Nico to wait for her while she dropped in to talk with her step dad. Nico did. And while he waited, he saw Jason and a girl with short black hair and a leather jacket walk down the hall.  


“What do you mean you can’t talk right now?” The girl demanded.  


“I have class right now. So I can’t talk, but I’ll find you during lunch.”  


“What am I supposed to do until then?”  


“I don’t know, Thalia, figure it out.” Jason slipped into his class, leaving Thalia to growl at the door. Nico approached her.  


“You’re Jason’s older sister, right?” He asked.  


“Yep. And you are?” She asked, scanning Nico curiously.  


“Nico Di Angelo.” He knew right away from the look she gave as he said his name that she’d known his sister.  


“Ah. Bianca’s brother. She was a brave girl, a good friend, and a great loss.”  


“I wanted to ask if you could tell me how she died?” Thalia’s eyes opened wide in shock.  


“You mean you weren’t told?”  


“Not really. I know it was a heroic sacrifice, but that’s all anyone will say.”  


Thalia slid down the wall to sit on the floor, “Come on, it’s a long enough story that you’ll want to sit. I don’t bite.” Nico sat with her. “There was an attack on our school, right after Bianca arrived, which was only a couple months after me. I guess it seems weird that there was an attack on a school, but it’s a special school. It’s for the strongest and brightest girls, and we’re trained to be soldiers of sorts, so we are seen as a danger, and attacks on the school are relatively common. Anyway, an elite team was needed to take care of it. Zoe, who’d been there ages and was Miss A’s right hand gal, was put in charge of the mission. She chose me and Bianca to come with her. Odd choice, if you ask me. Well, it shouldn’t have been too hard, you see, all we needed to do was get into the control booth and push a button, that would put up the barriers and cut most the enemies off, and then we’d handle the stragglers. The thing was, the booth was on fire. If someone went in there it would have to be fast, and they wouldn’t be coming back. Bianca went before anyone could stop her. She saved the school and everyone in it. But she died. And so did Zoe, one of the men who’d gotten past the barrier stabbed her. Bianca gave me that statue to send to you. And she wanted you to know she loves you. I figured you already know that, but since I’m here, and so are you, I thought I’d let you know.” A statue. That’s what was riding around in his pocket.  


“Thank you for telling me.”  


“No problem.”  


“I hear you don’t date, to honor an old friend. Would that be because of Bianca?”  


“Bianca and Zoe, actually. Most girls at our school chose to give up boys to honor their deaths. Before then, they were the only two. They both had boy troubles in some way.”  


“Do you know what Bianca’s where? She never had a boyfriend, so I don’t know how she could have had problems with them.” Thalia regarded him for a moment, then nodded.  


“Listen kid, I’ll tell you if you want to know, but I’ll also tell you that you don’t want to know.”  


“I want to know.” Nico stared her evenly in the eyes.  


“It broke her when she found out, it might do the same to you.” Nico laughed, a sharp, humorless laugh.  


“I’m already broken, Thalia. Tell me. Please.”  


“Your dad had an affair.” It was simple, but enough to make Nico feel sick.  


“When? With whom? Why?”  


“After you were born sometime. Bianca found out about it later, obviously. I don’t know how she came across it though. With a woman named Marie Levesque, if I remember right. And I don’t know, Nico. I wish I did, I wish that there was a good reason to it, I wish I could’ve known one to tell Bianca, to tell you. But I don’t know why he did it.”  


“Levesque,” he muttered, loud enough for Thalia to know he had said something, but not loud enough for her to know what he’d said. But before she could ask, the bell rang, and the two scrambled off the floor so they wouldn’t be trampled. Jason came out and found his sister, and Hazel raced out of her step father’s office, apologizing for making Nico wait for her and miss lunch. He smiled and said it was nothing, then he grabbed Hazel’s hand and led her outside.  


“Nico, we need to get to class.”  


“It can wait. I want to talk to you.”  


“Why can’t talking wait until after class?”  


“I think it’s important.”  


“Alright. What is it?” She sighed as she gave in.  


“Was your mother’s name Marie Levesque?”


	9. In Which Percy Gets an OTP

DISCLAIMER: As Harry says, I must not tell lies. And it would be a lie if I claimed to own these characters. I do not.  


~~~oOo~~~  


When Nico walked into his room that night, Leo glanced up from tinkering with some wires and screws.  


“You alright?” He asked.  


“Why wouldn’t I be?”  


“Well,” Leo frowned, “you and Hazel missed lunch, and fourth period,” there’d been an announcement calling them to the office for ditching, “and you look...shocked. Or maybe sick. And overall just off.”  


“It’s nothing.”  


“I saw Hazel on my way here. She looked the same. What happened?”  


“Nothing.”  


“You didn’t, like, try to kiss her or something, right? Because thats-”  


“I told you, I don’t want a girlfriend.”  


“Then what happened?”  


“Leave it.”  


“No, you little asshole, you’ve gone and upset yourself and Hazel. I will not ‘leave it’.”  


“You like her, don’t you?”  


“What?” Leo was startled by the sudden change of conversation.  


“You like Hazel. But she’s dating someone. And honestly she’s too young be dating either you or her boyfriend.”  


“I don’t! Why would you think that? She’s dating my pal, I wouldn’t! I don’t....not really...I mean, I used to...a little...” Leo was red and flustered and Nico laughed at the sight of it.  


“That’s good. She doesn’t need you to come in and confuse her about her feelings. So you keep telling yourself you don’t like her, and then maybe someday you won’t.”  


“Why do you care so much? I thought you didn’t like her.”  


“I do like her. Just not like that, which is why I care so much.”  


“So if you care so much, why’d you do this to her?”  


“Do what?”  


“Whatever it is you did. I’d say you’re the one confusing her, not me.”  


“It’s not my fault.”  


“How old are you? Ten? ‘It’s not my fault’, that’s the guiltiest thing someone can say!”  


“It’s not my fault that what happened happened. It is my fault that I told her, but if I were her, I’d want to know, so I told her.”  


“Told her what?”  


“Something that is between Hazel and myself.”  


“I can’t think of anything other than you hitting on her,” Leo paused, then smiled, “Or. Or, Hazel hit on you, but you told her that you don’t like her like that and she wanted to know why, so you told. Do you know what you told her? You told her that you are gay. And, being a gay male, can not possibly love Hazel in that way. You know what, I bet you’re in love with me to boot.” Leo smiled at him, and Nico could only stare. Finally he pulled himself together.  


“I do have standards, you know.”  


“Course you do. And I exceed all of them because I am perfect. Don’t feel bad, you’re not the first, and you won’t be the last, to fall in love with Leo Valdez.”  


“Right. Because modesty is something I value in potential lovers, and you are definitely modest.”  


“Aren’t I, though? I think I ought to go spread the word about you being in love with me, just in case some poor girl like Hazel decides to crush on you.”  


“You can keep your sick fantasies of me liking you if you want, but that is most certainly not what I was talking with Hazel about.”  


“You better tell me what it is you were talking about, or there’s no way you can convince me that that’s not what was being discussed.”  


“You are the most irritating person I have ever met.”  


“You know you love me for it.”  


“Like hell I do.”  


“That was rude. And not the way to go about seducing someone.”  


“Good. Because I want to be rude to you, and I do not want to seduce you, so I think that comment worked out well.”  


“Ah, playing hard to get, I see. But remember, you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”  


“I’ll catch you with poison, you annoying bug.”  


“Hey! Not nice. But come on! tell me! I’ll even give you a kiss if you do,” Leo begun to waggle his eyebrows suggestively. The boy was completely ridiculous. Nico sighed.  


“Fine. But no telling everyone, okay? Hazel’s my half sister.” It felt good to say it to someone. Telling Hazel didn’t count because it was only right to do so, but telling Leo felt nice. Which irritated Nico to no end.  


“How?” Leo’s eyebrows had stopped their waggling, and he was now blinking at Nico in shock.  


“My dad had an affair with Hazel’s mom, and Hazel was born. End of story.”  


“Wow. So I guess that there is no love triangle between you, me, and Hazel?” Nico was close to bursting out in laughter. What the hell was wrong with Leo?  


“If there is then it would have to be you, being torn between me and Hazel.”  


“Or, you two could both be fighting over me.”  


“Hazel has a boyfriend. I have standards.”  


“I thought we already went through this.” Leo grinned.  


“So did I. And Leo? I think I’ll collect that kiss later, if you don’t mind.”  


“Save it for a rainy day, my friend, you’ll only ever get one Valdez Supreme kiss.”  


~~~oOo~~~  


During English, Hazel and Nico hardly talked. They walked to math in silence, and stayed that way through geography. But as they walked to lunch, Nico decided that it was time to see where he stood.  


“Hazel?”  


“Hm?”  


“You’re not mad, right?”  


“No, of course not,” she looked genuinely surprised at his question.  


“And we’re still friends?”  


“Actually, we’re siblings now, aren’t we?” Hazel smiled at him. He couldn’t help it, he pulled her into a hug. She hugged back immediately.  


“I got lucky with sisters twice. Only, don’t die on me, okay?” He knew it was stupid. He hadn’t told Hazel about Bianca, she had no clue what he was talking about. But she hugged him tighter and whispered ‘I promise’, anyway. Maybe Leo was right and everyone in this school was crazy, and so they didn’t question when you were crazy too. Their hug ended and they made their way to the lunchroom.  


“I’m sorry Nico, I know I’ve been acting weird since you told me, it’s just...I didn’t expect this. Mom never said anything about my real dad. I’d ask and she’d say it didn’t matter. I never thought that maybe I had siblings. And I’m mad. I’m mad at her because she should have told me. I had a right to know. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be quiet or weird, I’m just thinking. It’s like my whole life has been redefined.” Nico nodded, and took her hand.  


“I can’t believe Dad would do that. Just go off and cheat. But I guess I’m glad he did. My life has been redefined a lot. And you being my sister is the first time it’s been a good thing. And I get that you need to think. I’m just glad you’re not upset with me.” She shot him a smile, and they sat down at their usual table, although they were the first ones there. Annabeth and Piper came not long after. They were laughing, and Hazel asked why.  


“The boys are just being dorks,” Annabeth said, pointing to where Percy and Leo had cleared a circle of people, and stood on opposite sides, facing each other off.  


“What’re they doing?” Nico asked.  


“Leo got an A on his test,” Piper supplied. As if that cleared anything up.  


“Oh dear. Last time they did this, Leo spent a night in the nurse’s office,” Hazel watched the boys with amusement and some worry. It soon became apparent why. Leo and Percy were racing towards each other, manic smiles on both's faces. Then they jumped the last little bit of distance and collided, mid-air, in an epic chest bump. They crumpled to floor in what sounded like a painful manner, but they were laughing. Actually, they were rolling on the floor, laughing. When they got up they highfived and then made their way to the table, Jason following behind, shaking his head at his friends.  


“Do they do that a lot?” Nico asked Hazel.  


“All the time. Whenever one of them gets an A on something, or anytime they feel like it or come up with a new ‘good reason’ to do it.”  


“Chest bumps are a way of life, man, you are missing out if you don’t do them regularly.”  


“No, you’re really not,” Piper said, folding her arms across her chest, “Leo, you talked me into chest bumping you and it was the most painful experience of my life.” Both Hazel and Annabeth mimicked Piper’s arms-over-chest movement, making faces of distaste.  


“Sounds horrible,” Hazel muttered.  


“I’ve never been tricked into a chest bump, but Percy gave me a bro-hug once, and that hurt pretty bad.” Annabeth added.  


“Psh. You girls.” Leo said, “Good thing I’ve got Percy to be a man with.” He punched Percy in the shoulder in a ‘bro’ way. Nico understood the workings of teenage boys about as well as the girls did.  


Leo sat down across from Nico. Nico wouldn’t have minded, except that Leo kept kicking him under the table. He wasn’t childish enough to kick back, but he sent glares Leo’s way, trying to warn him to stop. He didn’t. And he had this ‘I’m a perfect, innocent little angel’ smile on. In his defense, Nico held out for a long time before he shouted.  


“Stop that!” The group turned to look at him in puzzlement. He wasn’t doing anything, and no one seemed to be doing anything to him.  


“What?” Leo asked, ever so sweetly.  


“Keep your goddamn legs to yourself,” Nico growled at him. That’s when everyone caught on to what was happening. There was head shaking and chuckling from most of them, except Percy. Percy was smiling a scarily wide smile, and there seemed to be a gleam in his eyes. It sent a shiver down Nico’s spine. He had a feeling that whatever Percy was smiling about would come around and bite him in the ass.  


“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Leo cooed, at the same time he kicked Nico hard in the knee. Nico stood up abruptly, Hazel made to grab him, as if she thought Nico would attack Leo. He was tempted to, but that hadn’t been his plan, instead he sat back down, sitting on both legs this time, to keep them out of Leo’s reach.  


When lunch was over, Nico walked out of the lunch room between Hazel and Leo. He got the feeling that he was being watched, so he looked over his shoulder. He was pretty sure he saw Percy making a heart with his hands in his and Leo’s direction. Nico flushed, and directed himself and Hazel away from Leo.


	10. In Which the Tango is Danced

DISCLAIMER: Characters are currently in possession of Rick I-Can’t-Spell-His-Last-Name-But-You-Know-Who-I’m-Talking-About-Anyway.

~~~oOo~~~  


Two days. Nico had endured two days of Percy’s creepy smiles and suggestive glances whenever Nico got anywhere near Leo. He was sick of it. Who wouldn’t be? First there was Leo insisting he was the apple of Nico’s eye and- Leo! Of course. Nico picked up his pace and burst into his and Leo’s room. Leo jumped in his seat at the desk(where he’d been putting together God knows what), and turned his spinny-chair around to face Nico.  


“Jesus, could you, I don’t know, not burst in like that?” He demanded, sucking a wound on his hand where he must have stabbed himself during his jump.  


“Did you tell your stupid daydreams to Percy?” Nico spat out before he’d even finished closing, or rather, slamming, the door. Leo gave him a blank stare, which soon turned into a confused stare.  


“No…?” Leo looked as if he’d never been asked a weirder question. “You mean how you’re in love with me, right? I haven’t said anything ‘bout it. Really. Why?”  


“Hm,” Nico shrugged, “it’s nothing,” how could Leo have not noticed? Percy wasn’t really stealthy about how he thought that Nico and Leo were in love or something. But if Leo hadn’t noticed, then Nico wasn’t going to point it out to him. That would probably just make Leo be equally as creepy as Percy. And if it didn’t, and Leo got flustered and embarrassed, then Nico wouldn’t even be able to enjoy it because it would fluster and embarrass him and things would be awkwaradified tenfold.  


“I don’t believe you. Something's going on here. And I will find out. You suck at keeping secrets,” Leo eyes narrowed suspiciously at Nico.  


“I do not suck at keeping secrets!” Nico insisted. Because it was true. He told people anything about himself, especially personal or secret things, so rarely that you might as well say he never told his secrets.  


“Well, I guess you just suck at keeping secrets from me,” Leo winked and Nico flushed. Because that seemed to be true too. He had told Leo just about everything, whether it was a secret or simply something Nico hated talking about. But somehow Leo always got it out of him. And now that he came to think of it, Leo didn't even have to push that hard. Nico would just spill to him anyway. Nico decided that that definitely needed to be looked into and stopped.  


“Don’t look so pleased with yourself, Valdez,” Nico growled, unable to come up with anything better to say.  


“Hey man, there’s no need to be embarrassed about liking me. It’s a common enough occurrence,” Leo seemed to have forgotten the original topic of discussion, at least. But this was exactly the reason for Percy’s new instance that Nico and Leo’s relationship was a romantic one.  


“Flirt with me all you want, just don’t do it in public,” at least when these conversations were had in their room, Nico could ignore it. In public, Percy could hear. And that would only add fuel to his fire. Leo stared at Nico for a moment, then an almost-smile flashed across his face before he stood up and walked calmly into their shared closet. Nico had no idea what his roommate was doing, and honestly, he didn’t care. If the guy wanted to sit in a small room for clothes, Nico wouldn’t stop him. He rolled his eyes and made for his bed, planning on looking over some of his homework to see if it was worth doing.  


“I WILL NOT LIVE LIFE IN A CLOSET!” Leo screeched as he barged out of theirs. Nico jumped so high that when he landed he lost his balance. He figured there were two outcomes to this situation; he’d regain his balance, or he’d fall. He was wrong. There was a third outcome, and it was the outcome that came. Leo rushed to the rescue and caught him as he was flailing to recover his center. This, however, did not work as smoothly as Leo had anticipated, and Nico was thrown more off balance, plunging towards the floor back-first, and forcing him to grab Leo around the neck so that they wouldn’t both fall. Now Leo was holding Nico in what looked like a low dip from a dance. And, of course, that was the moment that the door opened.  


“We heard Leo yelling and came to see…” Percy trailed off as he took in the scene before him. His look of concern quickly turned to one of glee. Nico went red as Leo was puzzling over Percy’s sudden happiness.  


“What is it?” Piper asked, shoving past Percy to see. Hazel and Jason followed her, and all three gawked at the pair of boys that seemed to be dancing the tango.  


“What are you doing?” Hazel asked, looking utterly lost and close to laughing.  


“What does it look like we’re doing?” Leo asked to no response. He went on, “Practicing for the dance contest, obviously.” Nico was worried about how many of them nodded their heads or let out small ‘oh’s as if that explained it. Percy grinned and nodded vigorously.  


“Actually,” Nico started to explain what actually happened, but Leo’s grip on him slipped, and he fell to the ground, pulling Leo down on top of him. Now Nico wasn’t the only one beat-red; Leo and Hazel had joined him. Leo was inches from Nico’s face and it was one of the most distressing situations that Nico had ever been in. If Leo hadn’t caught himself on his hands, then he would’ve broken Nico’s nose with his head, or worse, caused an accidental kiss. Nico was too startled to move, and he and Leo’s eyes met in shock. Leo’s eyes were wide and showed off their very nice shade of brown. Nico’s face scrunched in distaste for that thought, and he shoved at Leo, snarling at him to get off.  


“Stop pushing,” Leo said, exasperated.  


“I’ll stop pushing when you get off of me,” Nico countered. Leo rolled off of him and Nico was so relieved to have the boy off him that he’d forgotten about their audience.  


“Was that part of your dance? Because I think you should definitely go in a different direction,” Piper sniggered. Nico figured that trying to explain what had actually happened would just be a waste of time.  


“Get out. All of you. Out.” He commanded. Piper was just giggling, Jason looked perplexed, Hazel was still red, and Percy was still smiling and eating up the entire episode with his worryingly bright eyes. Nico got up with as much dignity as he could muster and started to shove them out of the room. He finished off by slamming the door in Percy’s face. He then rounded on Leo. “Why? Why do you say stupid things about everything?”  


“It’s funny,” Leo shrugged. Nico pulled him up from the floor, propelled him towards the door and then dispelled Leo from their room and locked the door. He ignored Leo’s shouting and banging at the door and read quietly for the rest of the evening, completely forgetting, or more of ignoring, his homework.  


~~~oOo~~~  


When Nico entered the cafeteria and made his way to the usual table for dinner, he was stopped by a disgruntled Leo.  


“Not cool, man, not cool at all,” he scolded.  


“I don’t know, man, it seemed pretty cool to me,” Nico mimicked Leo's vernacular and smirked as he continued to walk. Leo grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, for a moment, Nico thought that he was going to punch him.  


“Listen, I was bored out of my mind, I needed in that room because my backup tools are there, and you took my main ones, and I need my tools okay?” Leo looked on the verge of crazy. In the past days, he’d managed to mostly clean up from the man whore prank. He’d found and removed the candy in the shower, and that’d helped to get rid of the glitter and wear away the sharpie and makeup. And he’d gotten several new shirts from the student store. He’d been looking almost normal, aside from the brightly colored school shirts, fading hickeys and numbers, and toolless tool belt. But now his hair looked as if he’d been pulling at it for hours, his eyes looked crazy and desperate, and his face looked anxious, and just plain odd without it’s usual smile.  


“You were bored? You poor thing! How terrible!” Nico let the sarcasm drip from his words. He couldn’t let Leo know that he was actually feeling guilty for causing the other boy such anxiety. He could understand unbearable boredom and its discomforts to an extent, and, looking at the state of Leo, it seemed like he had it much worse. But really, it’s not like his only entertainment had to come from their room. He could’ve gone and hung out with his friends or blown up the school or something. So Nico really had no reason to feel bad.  


“I hate being bored. I hate it. And I wanted to work with my machines, which are in my room, which you locked me out of! I needed them!” Nico wondered if going mad from boredom was something that could actually happen, and if it could happen in a few hours. The look in Leo’s eyes right now could easily convince him of both.  


“Oh boo hoo, get over it,” Nico snapped, tired of feeling bad for his annoying acquaintance.  


“Give me back my tools, and I’ll forgive you,” Leo said, as if he hadn’t been listening at all to what Nico had been saying. He probably hadn’t, actually.  


“Why would I want you to forgive me?” Nico had conflicting feelings about giving back the tools. On the one hand, giving them back to Leo would be admitting defeat, and in Leo’s mind, probably be asking for forgiveness. On the other hand, he was starting to think that taking Leo’s tools would’ve been like someone taking Nico’s Mythomagic cards(when he’d had them) or his books. And that made him feel pretty damn guilty, even though he really didn’t want to.  


“Because I am a wonderful person and you feel bad for hurting me?”  


“Hurting you? I never brought any harm to you,” Nico snorted.  


“Mental hurt, bro. The pain is real,” Leo insisted.  


“Stop your whining and man up.”  


“Fine. Give me my tools, I forgive you. Don’t give me my tools, I tell the entire school you’re in love with me. I’ll make up some fake evidence and I bet I can get Percy and Jason to back me up. And I’ll flirt with you in public. And everyone will think we’re gay lovers.” Nico had no doubt that Percy would happily back Leo up on it.  


“Wouldn’t that do just as much harm to you as it would to me?” Nico asked skeptically.  


Leo shrugged, “Hey, it seems to upset you a lot, and to get my tools back, I am willing to take this as far as I need to. Like kissing you, or slapping your ass. I don’t care. I need my tools back,” Nico looked Leo dead in the eyes, and he looked pretty serious. But it was so ridiculous…Kissing another guy for tools? Not even Valdez would do that. Probably.  


“You’re bluffing,” Nico decided. Leo raised an eyebrow.  


“Am I?” He reached over and gave Nico’s butt a firm squeeze. This caused Nico to yelp and hop away from Leo. Leo laughed and began to walk to their table.  


“I’ll give you until tomorrow morning to think about your options,” Leo tossed over his shoulder. Nico watched Leo saunter to the table, and with every second his face went a deeper shade of red. He forced himself to calm down, and was almost there when Percy appeared at his side.  


“So…” Percy raised his eyebrows. With a glance at Percy’s face, it was obvious that he’d seen Leo’s violation of Nico’s personal space. Great. He'd really needed Percy to see that. It wasn’t like Percy was already convinced that he and Leo were in love or anything.  


“That wasn’t...I mean, it’s not what you think…” Nico didn’t even know how he could convince Percy that the groping that had just happened was blackmail. Percy smiled at him knowingly.  


“Right. Of course it wasn’t,” Percy and Nico continued on their journey to the table, and Nico was beginning to think that Percy would actually just leave the whole butt thing alone. He thought too soon. “When’d you guys start dating?” Percy tried to sound casual. It didn’t work. He was clearly excited, that much was apparent through his voice and face, both betraying his attempt to be calm and collected. He was happy and excited and Nico was rather confused as to why he cared so much.  


“We are not dating,” Nico protested.  


“Really? It seems like you are.”  


“We aren’t. That was just...ugh it was…” Nico couldn’t think of any sensical excuse.  


“Oh. I get it. It’s ‘complicated’, right? You’ll get past that. It gets better when you actually start dating,” Percy informed Nico excitedly.  


“It’s not like that. Not at all,” Nico hurriedly tried to correct Percy, but Percy would have none of it.  


“I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to, but if you really want to keep it a secret then you need to act less couply all the time,” Percy suggested.  


“We do not act all couply! We are not dating! It is not complicated! We don’t even like each other! Leo was just being an ass!” Nico whisper-screamed. Percy snickered. Nico’s face went from pink to scarlet, partly from embarrassment, but also from irritation.  


“I think he was grabbing an ass more than being one,” Percy looked pleased at his joke.  


“Poor choice of words, but you know what I meant,” Nico grumbled as he and Percy sat down.  


“He knew you meant what?” Annabeth asked, looking up from her pizza.  


“Nothing,” Nico said firmly. Annabeth gave him an odd look, but shrugged and asked Percy about some homework assignment they had.  


“Took you long enough to get here,” Leo commented.  


“I ran into Percy and he wanted to...talk,” Nico didn’t feel like talking about the talk he’d had with Percy moments ago.  


“About what?”  


“Nothing important.”  


“But I wanna know!”  


“Too bad.”  


“You suck.”  


“Is that so?”  


“Mhm. You suck major ass.”  


“I’m done talking with you.”  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico had left dinner early to retrieve Leo’s tools from under the sink. He’d opted to give them back because he really could go his entire life without ever talking to Leo again, much less getting groped by him. He’d just finished getting all the tape off of the tools and was dumping some of them on Leo’s bed when the owner of said bed came in.  


“Hey, you didn’t lock me out!” Leo remarked.  


“I wanted to, but I guess even you need a place to sleep.”  


“Aww, man that’s so sweet of you,” Leo pantomimed wiping a tear from his cheek. “Also, what’d you say to Percy?”  


“Nothing. Why?”  


“On my way here, he said that we make a cute couple. Why does he think we’re a couple?”  


“I don’t know. He just does. He’s been acting like that for a couple of days, how could you have not noticed?”  


“You mean, like, he ships us?”  


“What do boats have to do with anything?” Nico was now completely baffled. Leo Valdez made no sense to him. None at all.  


“No, I mean ship. You know, like wanting people in things to date.”  


“Why on earth do you know that?” Nico wasn’t getting any less confused.  


“Piper and the internet,” Leo shrugged, “I don’t know how you don’t know that. It’s pretty common knowledge, not to mention how into books you get. Aren't there characters in them that you want to end up together?”  


“I guess.”  


“See, it’s like that, only Percy ships us. Actually, I should’ve seen it because he shipped Hazel and Frank too. But why does he think we’re legitimately dating? What’d you say to make him think that?”  


“That wasn’t me! That was all you,” Nico harumphed.  


“What? How?”  
“Oh, I don’t know, Leo, maybe because he saw you-” Nico really didn’t want to say it, so instead his body decided it was a good idea to blush.  


“Oh,” Leo laughed, “You mean he saw me grab you?” Leo laughed more when Nico gave a small nod. “You know you liked it,” He winked at Nico, and Nico realized that that was becoming a common gesture, which made him blush more, which was also becoming a regular occurrence.  


Instead of yelling, Nico threw a screwdriver that he’d been holding at Leo, and then followed that by emptying his pockets of nuts, bolts, screws, and wire by way of throwing them at Leo.  


“Dude, my stuff!” Leo exclaimed enthusiastically. He turned away from Nico, trying to protect himself from the shower of metal. He noticed the rest of his tools, laying on his bed, and he let out a whoop.


	11. In Which Nico Discovers Seventh Wheeldom

DISCLAIMER: I. Do. Not. Own. Characters.  
A/N: oops. Sorry about the long wait. I’d wanted to make this chapter super long because I wanted more things to happen, but I figured dumping an 8,000 word chapter after three months of nothing on you guys was a bad idea, so I split it up. 

~~~oOo~~~  


Over the last handful of days, preparations for a full on prank war had been taking place among the students. Today, however, those preparations ceased. The reason for it was simple: a new student had transferred. Now, that wasn’t such an uncommon thing, and indeed they had just gotten a new student(he was, in fact, the one to have set the prank war in motion). But the new girl was different. Rumors had been flying around since the moment she’d gotten to school. Nico wasn’t clear on where they’d come from, or even how they made sense, he just knew that Calypso was said to be cursed. With what? He didn’t know. No one else seemed to know either. But that didn’t stop them from believing it. Everyone was walking around the grounds at top speed, speaking in hushed voices, and glancing around suspiciously, as if they thought the new girl would kidnap and eat them.  


“The poor girl,” Piper said, glancing over to the lunch table where Calypso sat alone, “It’s awful how everyone’s treating her.”  


“Maybe we should invite her over here?” Hazel suggested.  


“She’s a snit,” Leo informed her, “Piper and I went over before you two came along,” he gestured to Hazel and Nico, “You know, to ask if she wanted to join us, and she was very rude about turning us down. I bet she started that rumor herself so that us inferior peasants wouldn’t approach her.”  


“Leo! She wasn’t that nasty to us, and it’s just because she’s hurt. Everyone’s been treating her like a witch-” Piper started.  


“Well, I know a word that rhymes with witch that describes her-”  


“Leo! No one would make up a rumor about how they're cursed. You weren’t very tactful when talking to her either, so I think she had every right to get upset.”  


“Maybe we can try again later? Without Leo?” Hazel suggested.  


“I think that’s a great idea. And, if any of us have classes with her, we ought to be nice to her.”  


“What’re we talking about?” Percy asked as he slid into his spot.  


“The new girl, Calypso,” Piper told him.  


“Ah, the one that everyone thinks is cursed?”  


“Yes.”  


“Why aren’t we sitting with her? She’s all alone…”  


“We asked, Leo was rude, she was rude back.”  


“Leo, how hard would it be to not be an asshole?” Percy frowned at Leo.  


“What? I just asked her about the curse thing. Aren’t you curious about it? I wasn’t even, like, mean about it!” Leo insisted, then added, “And being an asshole happens to be one of my strongest skills.”  


“I’m going to sit with her,” Percy declared, sticking his tongue out at Leo and standing to relocate to Calypso’s table.  


“Shouldn’t we join him?” Hazel asked as they watched Percy sit down and start talking with the ‘cursed’ girl.  


“No,” Leo and Nico said together. Leo grinned at Nico, who just frowned at their in sync response.  


“I’m already sitting,” Nico explained.  


“I just don’t wanna sit with her,” Leo shrugged. Hazel frowned at both of them, but she didn’t join Percy at Calypso’s table.  


Lunch passed uneventfully, and Nico was glad that Percy wasn’t there to misinterpret every little interaction he and Leo shared. It was pretty disconcerting to have someone ‘ship’ you with a guy that couldn’t even be considered a friend.  


“Oh yeah, we’re meeting on the roof tonight, right?” Hazel asked just as the bell rang and they were all getting up to go to their fourth period classes. The group all gave variations of ‘yes’ over their shoulders as they headed off.  


“Meeting on the roof?” Nico asked as he and Hazel walked to science.  


“Oh! I keep forgetting that you’re new,” Hazel laughed, she’d been in an especially good mood all day, “We all hang out on the roof sometimes, and just stay there all night, talking and stuff, you know, with everyone there together. It’s really great. Only, we haven’t been doing it lately because Frank’s been visiting his Grandmother, and we don’t meet up unless everyone can be there,” she explained.  


“And now Frank’s back so you’re all going to the roof?” Nico clarified.  


“No. Frank’s back so we’re all going to the roof. You’re coming too. You’re our friend now.” Hazel corrected. Nico was flattered that he was considered part of the group and all, but he also wished that he wasn’t. Because interacting with people was still far from his favorite thing, and intruding on their friend tradition seemed to be begging for awkward situations. Hazel cut into his thoughts, “And you need to meet Frank. You’ll like him, I think. He’s such a sweet guy, it’s impossible not to like him…” she trailed off, smiling quietly to herself. Nico frowned, Hazel seemed to be lost in thought about Frank. He wondered why, and then remembered Leo mentioning Hazel’s boyfriend a few times.  


“You’re...dating him, right? Frank?” Nico asked, frowning even more when she gave him a dreamy nod. He didn’t particularly like the idea of his little sister dating. Maybe he’d go to the roof just to give Frank a good scare, make sure he wouldn’t hurt Hazel(and knew that if he ever did, he’d need a coffin).  


“Hmm, I wonder how Annabeth’s field trip went,” Hazel wondered aloud.  


“Is that where she was?”  


“An architect thing, I think,” Hazel said as they took their seats and waited for the bell to signal the start of class, “I hope she had fun, it was all she could talk about last night.”  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico had not enjoyed science. It had never been his strong point, mostly because he disliked the lack of actual, solid, this-is-an-absolute-rule-that-has-no-exceptions, answers in it. And he wasn’t a fan of all the squishy, slimy stuff that biology was all about. But today had been especially bad. They’d been assigned a big project, and he had to build a cell in which all the things that represented the organelles actually matched that organelles’ function. And it was worth a hundred points, so he’d actually have to do it if he wanted to pass the class.  


After staring at his paper for twenty minutes, trying to figure out what to use to build the cell, he was seriously questioning whether he really wanted to pass the class. He sighed in frustration and forcefully pushed away from the desk in his room that he’d been working on. And, as his chair shot away from the desk at full speed, Leo walked into their room, so Nico’s chair slammed into his legs.  


“Owwww fuck!” Leo swore as he collapsed on the floor.  


“Sorry!” Nico jumped out of his chair and helped Leo up before he had time to think.  


“You so planned that, you little brat,” Leo glared, plopping down on his bed and hugging his wounded legs to him.  


“I did not,” Nico snapped defensively, “And I’m not a brat!”  


“Well, you’re a damn good actor.” Leo spat. Nico’s mouth was on its way to shout rude things at Leo, but he managed to stop it. He had hurt Leo, after all, so the boy did have a right to be mad. But he hadn’t meant any harm. And for some reason it was important to Nico that Leo know he hadn’t wanted to hurt him.  


“Listen, I’m really sorry. I didn’t know you were there,” Nico said sincerely.  


“Dude, your face,” Leo’s eyes had widened and he was looking at Nico with wonder.  


“What?” Nico asked with alarm. Had he grown a third eye? Or sprouted a horn? Or had his ears enlarged to the size of an elephant’s?  


“It looks so..concerned. It’s kinda adorable,” Leo chuckled lightly, but cut off abruptly and said, “Oh my god, you’re actually worried about me-” Nico shoved Leo hard, causing him to topple of the bed and let out another swear. Nico stormed out of the room and decided that the only reason he’d wanted Leo to know it was an accident was because it was more fun when he’d actually meant to hurt him.  


Nico walked furiously(and aimlessly) through the school, ending up in one of the courtyards.  


“Leo, as in Valdez?” A voice asked from behind Nico, startling him so badly that he jumped about a foot in the air. He spun to confront the owner of the voice, and found himself face to face with a tall and buff Chinese-looking guy.  


“I-What?” Nico asked in surprise.  


“You were muttering angrily about Leo. And, in my experience, that is something that a certain Leo Valdez can drive people to do,” The boy laughed good-naturedly.  


“Yeah, that’s the one,” Nico confirmed, taking in the information that he’d been angrily muttering without realizing.  


“What’d he do?”  


“He’s just...ugh. He’s such a pain.” The other boy smiled at Nico’s response.  


“Yeah. He really is. I get that better than most.”  


“Looks like we have something in common, then.”  


“We could start a club.”  


“I bet it already exists. Probably the ‘Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club’,” Nico grinned, and so did his buff companion.  


“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he paused, “I don’t mean to be rude, but who are you?” Nico stiffened at the question. He seemed to be getting better at being around people, but he still wasn’t very good with it. And he still preferred to keep his distance from them. But he couldn’t think of a way to escape, so he answered.  


“The unfortunate new roommate of Leo Valdez. Name’s Nico. You?”  


“The unfortunate boyfriend of Leo Valdez’s crush. I’m Frank,” he frowned, and refined his earlier statement, “My girlfriend's great, so that’s not the unfortunate bit, but Leo’s not my biggest fan. So that’s less great.”  


“Wait, Frank, as in the one who’s dating Hazel?”  


“That’d be me. You know Hazel?” Frank’s friendly smile had returned. Nico’s smile, however, had left. His plan to scare Frank had worked out differently than he’d anticipated. As in, not at all. Besides, the guy was huge. It would’ve be hard to intimidate him in the first place, and now that he’d been friendly, it would be pretty much pointless (not to mention pretty embarrassing) to try.  


“We’re good friends now. She’s a sweet kid. You’re lucky to have her affections,” Nico decided that if Frank did hurt Hazel in any way, he’d just kill him, no warning necessary.  


“I still can’t believe that she, you know, likes me. I got lucky, I guess. I mean, she’s perfect, and I’m, well, I’m just me,” Frank gestured to himself with a shrug. Hazel was right. It was hard to dislike him. It bothered Nico quite a bit that he wasn’t hating as many people as he usually did. But Frank was nice and sincere. And that was something, definitely worth more than Frank seemed to give himself credit for.  


“Hm. You must of done something to earn her feelings, so it can’t be entirely luck,” Nico had really wanted to agree that Frank had gotten lucky(really lucky), but instead he’d gone off and been nice. He continued to speak before Frank could get a word in, “But, you are still lucky to have her, and I suggest you don’t screw it up.”  


“I won’t. Promise,” Frank smiled sheepishly at Nico, “Hey, you’re close with Hazel, so I assume that means you’ve been adopted into the group,” He paused for a moment, but not long enough for Nico to answer, “I’m heading up to the roof, I wanted to be first one there, to surprise them because I said I’d be getting back later than I was. Why don’t you come with me?”  


“Uh,” Nico didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have enough practice with people to know how to deal with them, especially the friendly ones. So he settled on staring blankly at Frank.  


“Come on, we can check the school website and find out how to join the Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club.”  


Nico let out a small laugh and nodded. He and Frank started towards the roof, Frank, of course, leading because Nico had no idea how to get there. When there, they searched the club page of the school website on Frank’s phone. As it turned out, there wasn’t a Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club. They agreed that they needed to remedy that.  


~~~oOo~~~  


When Hazel arrived on the roof(the first one after Nico and Frank), she screamed and flung her arms around Frank, who easily picked her up and swung her around in a bear hug.  


“Oh my god, Frank, I missed you!” She squealed as he put her down.  


“I missed you too,” Frank smiled down at his girlfriend adoringly.  


“I thought you weren’t getting back ‘til late?” Hazel mock-accused.  


“Sorry, I wanted to surprise you,” Frank scratched the back of his neck nervously. Hazel smiled and got on her tiptoes to kiss Frank on the cheek.  


“I’m glad you’re back,” she whispered. Nico shuffled his feet uncomfortably, not knowing how to act. He felt like he was intruding on a personal moment. And when he glanced at his sister and the co-founder of the Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club staring lovingly into each other’s eyes, he realized that he undoubtedly was intruding on a personal moment. Which made him feel even more uncomfortable. Luckily, Percy and Annabeth came in before too long. Annabeth gave Frank a hug and welcomed him back. Percy tried to trap him in a noogie, but it proved to be pretty difficult, so Percy gave up with a laugh and pulled him into a bro-hug. Then they left him to give his full attention back to Hazel.  


“Hey, Nico,” Percy turned to Nico.  


“Oh! Nico! Hadn’t even noticed you were here!” Hazel exclaimed. Nico almost felt offended. “I take it you met Frank?”  


“Yeah,” Nico nodded. Hazel smiled at him for a moment, before switching back over to Frank.  


“They’re so cute,” Annabeth said, smiling at Frank and Hazel.  


“Young love,” Percy seemed to agree. Except, he wasn’t looking at the ‘young lovers’. He was looking at Nico. And Nico had a sneaking suspicion that he was referring to Nico and Leo. Nico reddened slightly, glad that Leo wasn’t there to make things worse. Then he harrumphed at Percy and turned his back to him.  


If Nico had thought that Percy and Annabeth joining them on the roof would make him feel like less of a third wheel, he was wrong. It just made him into a fifth wheel. Percy and Annabeth were being just as coupley and mushy as Frank and Hazel, leaving Nico to intrude on both ‘personal moments’. And when Jason and Piper came along, he transformed into the seventh wheel. And each passing moment left him feeling increasingly uncomfortable. He didn’t even have a book because he’d left his room in a rage earlier.  


“Welcome to the world of awkward seventh wheeldom,” was how Leo greeted him upon arriving on the roof. Nico didn’t respond, so Leo kept talking, “Hey, I know you feel bad for almost breaking my legs, so I’ll forgive you for that, but I need an apology for being pushed off my bed,” Leo said matter of factly.  


“I’m sorry, Leo,” Nico sighed, and Leo’s face showed his clear surprise at this, “I’m sorry that I pushed you off your bed. I really should work on my aim. I promise that next time, I will push you out the window,” Nico finished sweetly. Leo let out a bark of a laugh.  


“For a minute there, I thought the aliens had got you,” Leo clapped Nico on the back before settling down on the roof. He gestured for Nico to join him, and Nico eyed the spot indicated suspiciously before sitting down. He had been standing for rather a long time, and was happy to sit down, even if it was by Leo. He thought he saw Percy shoot a grin their way, which almost made him get up and leave.  


“Is it like this every time?” Nico asked after several moments of silence. He was surprised that he’d actually voiced his curiosity. And if Nico was surprised, Leo was shocked practically to death.  


“You actually started a normal conversation, nothing mean or anything,” Leo stated, eyes still wide and regarding Nico with curiosity and apprehension.  


“It won’t happen again,” Nico snapped back, feeling stupidly self conscious, and vowing to get back into his habit of never talking to, or liking, people.  


“Sorry,” Leo dropped his eyes to his lap, and they sat in silence for many more moments. Nico was keeping his vow of silence, and, even if he hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have know what to say anyway. It wasn’t everyday that Leo Valdez sincerely apologized. especially for something as silly as being his usual self and obnoxiously pointing out the glaringly obvious, albeit in a slightly rude way. After some time, Leo suddenly turned to Nico and said, “Yeah.”  


“What?” Nico asked, forgetting that he wasn’t talking to people in his surprise at Leo blurting out ‘yeah’ randomly.  


“Yeah, it’s almost always like this. Sometimes it’s great, and we all just talk and joke around. But more and more lately they just pair off in couples and have their own personal dates up here, and I just kinda sit around, you know, waiting for someone to notice me,” Leo shrugged. Then he blinked and went pink, as if only just realizing what he’d said, and opened his mouth to try and smooth over his slip.  


“Don’t,” Nico said before Leo could even speak, “Just, don’t. You can’t deny what you said, anyhow, so I suggest you don’t bother,” He paused, wondering if he was really going to do this, and, if so, why, “You can say things you mean sometimes. You don’t always have to hide one part of you behind another. Because I notice you, Leo. I notice that you’re annoying as hell, and you’re full of yourself, and also full of shit. I notice that you don’t take anything seriously, and that you can’t sit still, and are usually bored unless building something destructive. Which is dumb.” He took a breath, and looked at his roommate (whom he’d been furious with practically constantly since meeting him), and saw him. Really saw him. The way he’d seen him during his almost-break-down about Bianca. The way he saw how Leo’s face or posture would change, seeming to shrink and wither, every now and then, usually when he thought no one was looking. And Nico realized that, until his arrival, it was likely that no one was ever there to see. And, when he saw Leo, saw the complete boy that was Leo, he saw someone startlingly similar to him. “And now I’ve noticed that you only show your friends half of yourself, and that you’re a damn good actor for it. And how lonely you are. So, consider yourself noticed, Leo Valdez.”  


“I-” Leo started, but was cut off by Frank.  


“Alright guys, time to go in, I think. It looks like it’ll rain,” He said, pulling Hazel towards the door leading back inside. The others followed suit. And Leo, well, Leo more than followed suit. He was gone from his previously occupied spot on the roof in a heartbeat, and bolted through the door before Frank and Hazel even reached it, both of them shooting concerned glances at the space Leo had fled from, probably checking to see if it had caught on fire. Hazel raised her eyebrows at Nico, but he just shrugged, and she gave a small frown before letting Frank sweep her up into his arms and carry her inside.  


“Go on ahead, I’ll catch up,” Nico heard Percy tell Annabeth, and moments later saw her join Piper and Jason. And Nico had a feeling that Percy would pop up by his side in three...two… “What’d you do?” Percy asked excitedly.  


“Nothing.”  


“You did, or at least said something. He looked scared out of his mind!” Percy laughed, “You didn’t, I dunno, propose or something, did you?”  


“Propose?” Nico choked, “Like marriage? No way! I’m fourteen!!” Nico reminded Percy. And then, “Not to mention how WE ARE NOT DATING.”  


“Right. Anyway, you know I completely support you guys, but marriage does freak most guys out, so you can’t just sneak up on them with a proposal because they’ll react just like Leo did,” Percy said knowledgeably.  


“I am not dating Leo. I did not ask him to marry me,” Nico managed through gritted teeth.  


“Well that’s good, then. What about the L word?”  


“The what?”  


“Love. Did you say you love him? Is that what happened? And he spazzed like that? That’s pretty rough, but give him some time to cool off and I bet he’ll return the sentiment soon-”  


“I am not dating Leo! I did not confess my love for him!”  


“But you have it,” Percy had a satisfied smirk set on his face.  


“Have what?” Then he realized, “Love? For Leo? NO! I. Have. No. Romantic. Feelings. For. Leo. I hardly even have any friendly ones!”  


“You clearly said something feelings-y. That’s the only reason Leo would freak like that. And I get if you don’t want to tell me. But, good luck!” Percy ran off before Nico could say anything to try and set him straight. He sighed and headed inside himself. He was ready to fall into his bed.  


When he got to the dorm it was empty. It remained so all night.


	12. In Which Crushes Strike

DISCLAIMER: Characters are not in my possession at this moment. Sorry to disappoint.  
A/N: How have you guys not tracked me down and killed me yet? jfc I suck 

~~~oOo~~~  


The morning after the roof gathering, Hazel came to find Nico on his way to breakfast.  


“What happened?” She demanded as she fell into step beside him.  


“What?”  


“I saw Leo leaving Piper’s room this morning.”  


“Is that where he was?”  


“Mhmm. Piper, Leo, and I have a pact that if there are any roommate issues then we are welcome in the others’ rooms. We all had lots of issues with them earlier this year, so we came up with it.” Nico’s mind flashed back to the two bathroom bags under his sink. That would explained why they’re there.  


“Well, Leo’s weird. He probably decided that he was done bugging me.”  


“No and no because you two were getting along great last night and we only turn to the roommate pact if it’s a big deal, so something happened.”  


“You’re just like Percy. Wait, no, you’re actually way better than Percy, but you two still both read into things too much.”  


“Listen, I’m just worried about him, okay? So, please, put my mind at ease and tell me what happened. Please.”  


“Fine. I told him that he’s not fooling me. And he freaked out and that’s all I know.”  


“Not fooling you with what?” Hazel furrowed her brow.  


“Everything. Look, it doesn’t matter. You can bother him about it later if you really want, but right now let’s just go eat,” he quickened his pace, trying to get Hazel to the table before she could ask anymore. Because he wasn’t really sure what he should say to her. It wasn’t his deal to tell other people. Luckily, when they sat down, a new topic was presented to them at once.  


“Percy sat with her again,” Piper nodded her head towards Calypso’s table, and, sure enough, Percy was sitting there too. Nico wasn’t good with feelings and social cues, but even he could tell that Calypso was batting her eyes at Percy.  


“Where’s Annabeth today?” Nico asked.  


“Sick. Probably from last night.” Piper answered.  


“What’s going on?” Frank looked completely lost, which was to be expected since he hadn’t been around lately.  


“There’s a new girl named Calypso and she’s been a bit antisocial, I guess. Oh yeah, she’s supposed to be cursed. And Percy made friends with her. And it looks like she likes him,” Jason summarized.  


“Oh. And Annabeth doesn’t know?”  


“No reason to tell her, really. I mean, she’ll come back and make it clear that Percy’s taken. He’s just so oblivious he doesn’t even realize that she’s falling for him,” it was Piper that answered Frank this time.  


“If she makes a move on him then Percy’ll set her straight. You just have to be blunt with him, you know? So whichever happens first, it’ll still get taken care of,” Hazel put in.  


And so the rest of breakfast was spent discussing Calypso and Percy. Leo never showed up. Nico wondered if he’d been too blunt with Leo last night. But it had just sort of...come out. Anyway, he’d probably needed to hear it. Because wow did that boy have some issues and he needed to deal with them, so maybe Nico reminding him of them had been a good thing.  


But he started to worry more about it as the days went on. By the time Saturday came around, Leo had still stayed out of Nico’s sight. And it wasn’t as if that particularly bothered Nico. He wasn’t a huge Leo fan. But it did bug him that he had said something very personal to Leo. Something only a close friend would say. And Leo was avoiding him because of it. But he ignored the small part of him that was dissapointed when he entered his room to find it empty. To see that one more of Leo’s possessions had disappeared. He reminded himself of all the reasons that Leo being gone was a good thing, no matter the reason. And he was able to convince himself that he really didn’t care that much, and there was no reason for him to track down Leo and try to talk it out. In fact, talking it out would be the worst way to handle it. Because, really, look how their last talk had turned out.  


“Nico?” Hazel knocked on the door.  


“Yeah?” Nico called as he abandoned his science project to open the door.  


“Wanna grab lunch?”  


“Sure. But I thought you were hanging with Frank today?”  


“He has archery for a couple hours,” she smiled, “and anyway, I wanted to spend time with you too.”  


“Come on, let’s go,” Nico couldn’t help but smile back at his little sister and take her hand.  


When they entered the cafeteria it was no surprise to see Percy talking animatedly with Calypso. He’d been spending more time with her than he had with them lately. Nico thought the group was pretty lonely without Percy, Annabeth, and Leo. It was pretty obvious that everyone else agreed. The conversation was subdued and quiet at their table today, as it had been for the last couple of days, but all conversation was soon cut off when Piper gestured to Calypso’s table.  


When Nico looked, he saw why she’d been so interested in it. Percy and Calypso seemed to be having a serious discussion, and although he couldn’t hear what was being said, to Nico it looked like a confession on Calypso’s part. Percy’s expression was stunned and a little bit panicky. Like he didn’t know what to do. He scratched the back of his head and smiled nervously, saying something that displeased Calypso. Then she said something in return, head down and shoulders shaking. Percy tried saying something more to her, but she stood up and left. Soon after, a very distraught Percy joined them at their table.  


“What’s wrong?” Hazel was the one brave enough to ask.  


“Calypso told me she liked me, but when I said I was with Annabeth she got upset and said she never wanted to see me again,” Percy put his head down on the table and sighed.  


They’d all assumed that something along those lines had happened, but none of them knew what to do about it.  


“Where’s Jason?” Percy asked.  


“With Leo. I can take you to them,” Piper offered. Percy nodded and she took his arm and lead him away.  


“Guess it’s just us for today,” Hazel turned to Nico. He nodded. It did seem that way.  


But the whole gang turned up for dinner. Except Annabeth, who was still out sick.  


“See, I told you all she was a bad egg. But you ignored me,” Leo was ranting about Calypso.  


“Leo, she was just upset,” Piper shoved him playfully. “You should know how much being rejected hurts.” She was teasing in an affectionate, sisterly way. But Nico saw the second that Leo’s face distorted into one of hurt. The comment had hit a little too close to home. But soon he was shoving Piper back with a huge smile in place.  


“Yeah, but it’s not that bad. C’mon, she was lucky enough to have a great guy come and sit with her and be friends with her even though she sucks, so I think it was unreasonable of her to react like that.”  


“Can we just drop it?” Percy asked, cutting off Piper’s retort.  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico came into his room at a late hour. He’d been stuck listening to Percy babble about absolutely nothing at the table for hours. Apparently he got like that sometimes, and usually Annabeth dealt with him, but since she was sick everyone had abandoned ship early so that they wouldn’t be stuck with him. And it hadn’t been that bad. Percy had never lifted his head from the table, so Nico had just read and mm-hmmed so that Percy thought he was being listened to. And sometimes, he’d actually gotten onto some interesting topics, and Nico had actually listened. But it had monopolized his night. Not that that was a legitimate complaint either, seeing as he never did anything anyway. And it was a good excuse to have not been working on his science project.  


Even if it hadn’t been a bad night, Nico was tired, and planned on taking a shower and then heading right to bed. But when he stumbled into the bathroom, he was startled to find the shower already occupied. So startled that he couldn’t move. He just stood there, wide-eyed, staring at the blurry figure behind the shower curtain and listening as “Eye of the Tiger” was loudly sung and echoing around the bathroom, the singer oblivious as of now to the fact that he wasn’t alone. But, because the top half of the shower curtain was clear plastic, as soon as he turned around he saw that he had company. And his eyes widened as they locked with Nico’s.  


“What the fuck?!” Leo screamed, and Nico went completely red, finally realizing what was happening.  


“Oh-my-god-I’m-so-sorry-I-didn’t-mean-oh-god-I-thought-you-weren’t-oh-my-god,” Nico spluttered out.  


“Out! Get out!” and Nico was finally able to make his limbs work, stumbling out of the room and collapsing on the floor on the other side of the closed door. He buried his face in his arms, squeezed his eyes shut, and bit his lips, trying to not freak out. Because shit. Shit shit shit shit. He’d accidentally walked in on Leo taking a shower! He got up on shaky legs and made it to his bed, deciding to skip the shower for tonight. He crawled into bed and pulled the covers over his head, willing himself to fall asleep. But he didn’t. He was still up when Leo came out of the bathroom, and feigned sleep. He heard Leo coming up to his bed and was certain that he’d want to start a yelling match or possibly a battle to the death. But Leo just muttered ‘fuck’ and climbed into his own bed.  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico didn’t run into Leo until lunch the next day, and he was too busy sulking to pay Nico any mind.  


“What’s up with him?” Nico whispered to Piper.  


“He got paired up with Calypso for a science project,” she explained.  


“Science seems to be dishing out misery lately,” Nico muttered, thinking of his own science project. The one that was due on Friday. And he’d made absolutely no progress on it. Still, better than having to work with someone he hated (or anyone, for that matter), he figured. But he was glad that Leo had been saddled down with it, since he had a rather one-track mind, it was more than likely that he’d be too caught up in complaining about Calypso to initiate any sort of uncomfortable conversation about last night’s incident. Not that it was likely either of them would want to actually talk about it, but extra reassurance was nice. Besides, it might be enough to get their relationship back to normal, after the rooftop and shower encounters. Nico frowned. What was their normal relationship? Bickering? Yelling? Constant annoyance on his side? Why did he want that back?  


“Oh I bet you’re working on The Cell Project by now,” Piper said. It took a moment for Nico to realize that she was responding to his last remark.  


“Did you have Mr Brien’s class?” Nico asked in response.  


“Yep. That was not my favorite project. Not too hard, overall, but I couldn’t come up with ideas for the dumb thing.”  


“I wish we could’ve done partners. I’d rather work with Nico than alone,” Hazel joined.  


“That would be my fault,” Piper grinned wickedly, “Or, more of Leo’s, really. Point is, we had that class together and were always partners. We always caused so much trouble that Mr Brien took away partner privileges half way through the year.” Leo barked a laugh, and Piper’s story drew him into their conversation.  


“Do you remember that time we caught Coach on fire with Jason? I think that’s what finally broke Brien.”  


“That also got us all suspended, as I remember,” Jason added.  


“Ah, good times, good times.”  


“I know I shouldn’t agree with him, but I do,” Piper laughed, and Jason nodded his own agreement.  


“Too bad we aren’t in the same science class this year. I’d way rather be with one of you than Calypso. In fact, I’d rather be with anyone. Hey, do you think if I caught another teacher on fire I’d be suspended and they’d have to put her with someone else?”  


“No more catching people on fire. Besides, Calypso’s not that bad. I’m sure you’ll work it out.”  


“But Pipes, you don’t have classes with her so you don’t understand.”  


“Understand what?”  


“That she’s gotten ten times worse since Percy dumped her. She is a total mega bitch now. She spent all of today glaring and insulting me!”  


“Knowing you, I’m going to bet you provoked her.”  


“Harsh.”  


Piper blew him a kiss as she stood from the table. “Leo, I love you, but that’s the truth. Anyway, the bells about to ring so I’m off.”  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico double and triple checked that the bathroom was empty before entering it to take a shower. School had just ended and he’d rushed to be the first one to the dorm to snag the bathroom. He needn’t have worried, though. By time Leo returned it was five, and Nico was at the desk, staring blankly at his project. Leo went into the bathroom, and Nico heard the lock click. He wished Leo had just done the same thing last night, but at least similar situations wouldn’t arise in the future. Probably.  


“Dude, dinner time,” Nico barely heard Leo’s voice, he was so far in a daze.  


“What?”  


“Dinner. You’re gonna miss it if you sit around here too much longer.”  


“Oh. Thanks. But I think I’ll just skip it tonight. Thanks.”  


“You can’t skip dinner! Food is important and delicious, come on.”  


“Thanks. But I really need to work on this.”  


“Uh-huh,” Leo gave him an odd look, “Like you’ve been working on it for the past three hours?”  


“I’ve been brainstorming!” Nico flushed.  


“I’m sure. You’re as hopeless as Piper was. Here, let me help.” Nico was about to object, but the words caught in his throat when Leo leaned across him to grab the rubric for the project. “Do you have any idea what you’re gonna do for this?” Nico shook his head, which made Leo laugh. “Alright, I’m assuming you know the organelles’ functions, so now all you need to do is match them to real life objects. Really not that hard. Are you making a plant or animal cell?”  


“Um. I haven’t decided. I guess maybe just a plant cell?”  


“Sounds like a plan,” Leo settled himself down on the floor, splayed on his stomach, and gestured for Nico to join him. He did.  


As the night went on, Nico realized that they’d both missed dinner by a longshot, and, even more than that, that Leo had skipped dinner to help him. And he didn’t understand why Leo would help him in the first place. Wasn’t he upset about the roof? And the shower? Had the Calypso thing somehow gotten things back to normal? But this wasn’t exactly their normal relationship. Nico kind of liked it better. Of course, that was no doubt due to the fact that he was getting help on his cell because of it. Why else would he be enjoying it so much?  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico stirred at the sound of a voice, and he vaguely realized that it was his little sister calling for him. “Nico! Leo! Are you two in there?” Hazel pounded at the door again. Nico decided that her situation didn’t sound dire enough to make him get up.  


“Move, I have a key,” Piper’s voice cut through another round of knocking. More voices murmured behind the door, but when it creaked open, they all fell silent. There was a flash and then laughing. Then several more flashes, and more laughter. Nico finally opened his eyes fully and found that he was on his back. On the floor. Above him loomed the whole gang. Except...Leo lay beside him on the floor. Nico’s arm slung over him. Nico jumped away from Leo, and right into his bed frame.  


“Shit!” He exclaimed, holding his head and clamping his eyes shut. It was too early for any of this.  


“Whaaa?” Leo mumbled as he came to life, sitting up groggily.  


“You guys missed dinner last night, and breakfast today. We got worried and came to check on you,” Percy explained, “We didn’t mean to interrupt your snugglefest, though. Sorry about that.” Percy’s smile was alarmingly wide, and when Nico spotted the phone in his hand he understood what the flashes earlier had been. He groaned. “Well come on, first period will start soon,” Percy came into the room and helped Nico to his feet. Not that Nico needed it, but it became clear why Percy had bothered when he whispered in Nico’s ear, “I hope you crazy kids used protection.”  


Nico went red and shoved Percy before stomping out of the room. He didn’t understand why Percy had to say that kind of stuff to him. Leo would’ve thought it was funny! Why not joke with him about it? Anyway, it was obvious that nothing had happened, they’d just fallen asleep while working on his (almost finished) science project!  


By the time lunch rolled around, Nico was pretty hungry. And, judging by the size of his plate, so was Leo. They both spent the entire lunch period eating rather than joining in conversation. Which was the norm for Nico, but a rarity for Leo. And though he may not have spoken, Nico didn’t miss Percy’s meaningful looks. Or the amused ones from the others. He ignored them all.  


Annabeth had recovered from her flu, and had been brought up to date on the Calypso debacle. She wasn’t upset about how Calypso had hit on Percy, but she did seem bothered that Calypso had taken the rejection so poorly, saying, “I just wish we could’ve been friends. She looks like she needs some.”  


“And she was nice,” Percy nodded, “I think she’d have liked our group.”  


Nico caught Leo rolling his eyes at that, and smiled. Leo’s dislike for Calypso was almost irrational, but he supposed that she could be as rude as Leo claimed, if only to Leo.  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico had turned his plant cell model in a day early. Thanks to Leo, he’d managed to build and perfect it. Honestly, Leo was good at science, and math, and many other subjects, as Nico had learned over the past week and a half. It was a wonder his grades sucked so much, and, as far as Nico could figure, that was entirely because the schoolwork didn’t keep Leo’s attention long enough for him to actually do it. But he’d wander over while Nico was working on something and help him or start a conversation on the topic of whatever Nico had been doing. Nico almost looked forward to the times when Leo would distract him from his work to talk. As it turned out, Leo talked longer than Percy had when he’d needed to vent. Leo could talk about everything and nothing for hours. And Nico liked to listen, even when he wasn’t really listening, it was nice to have Leo’s stream of words in the background and mm-hmm every now and again. And Leo seemed to enjoy talking endlessly and actually have a person there to respond occasionally.  


Nico wasn’t sure what had spurred the change, but since Leo had helped him with his cell, their relationship had developed into something close to actual friends. There was still a good amount of shouting and arguing and name calling, but fights only lasted as long as the event of the fight did. They didn’t carry arguments over to other ones, and none dragged on longer than an hour. It was different, and odd, but Nico liked it. And, to his surprise, he found himself liking Leo.  


It was late on Friday night and Nico was up reading when Leo burst in the door and collapsed on his bed.  


“How’d your study date with Calypso go?” Nico asked– he’d started to initiate conversations with Leo lately.  


“Ugh it was not a study date,” Leo mumbled into his pillow, but Nico noticed that the tips of his ears were red.  


“Hmmm. I guess not, but you can dream.”  


“What’s that suppose to mean?” Leo sat up and glared at Nico.  


“It means that I think you wish it had been a date,” Nico replied, and the blush from Leo backed up his belief. It was odd being the one to make Leo blush– the boy was always trying to make Nico uncomfortable.  


“I do not! She’s…” Leo trailed off and sighed. Nico had noticed that Leo had stopped complaining about or insulting Calypso, but he’d put it on him sucking it up.  


“I’m going to guess that you’re over Hazel?”  


“Huh? Yeah, of course I am.” Nico could tell he meant it.  


“And now you like Calypso.” It wasn’t a question.  


“I...I mean...maybe…” Leo sighed again and buried his face in his hands. Nico felt an unpleasant tug in his stomach, but he didn’t acknowledge it.  


“Thought so. Why don’t you ask her out for a real study date?”  


“Because...because I was so wrong Nico, I mean, she was pretty sucky at first but man she’s actually perfect. She’s beautiful and funny and sweet and...and way too good for me. No way would she settle for me,” Leo looked so small as he said it, and Nico realized what had changed in their relationship and why he liked it so much. Leo didn’t act in front of Nico. He didn’t hide any part of himself, he abandoned his mask. He was real. Nico mentally shook himself. There was no need to go farther down that path of thinking.  


“Listen, Leo, you can either try or you can get over it. Just because you weren’t right for some girls before doesn't mean you aren’t right for Calypso. There’s really no harm that could come out of trying.”  


“But she could say no and turn me away.”  


“The science thing won’t last forever. It’ll end and you won’t hang out with Calypso anyway. Unless you go for it.”  


“You know, it’s really weird getting girl advice from you.”  


“Why?”  


“You don’t even like people. What do you know about relationships?”  


“Point taken,” Nico nodded, “However, I’m not drawing from my knowledge of relationships. It’s just logic.”  


Leo stared at him for a moment and then smiled, “Thanks.”  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico woke up late because it was a Saturday and there was no reason to be up before noon. He showered and then made his way to the cafeteria for lunch, thinking that a burger and fries wouldn’t be so bad today. But when he collected his food and turned to his table, all thoughts of eating left his mind. Leo wasn’t sitting at their table. But he was in the cafeteria. He was sitting with Calypso.  


“Did he ask her out?” Nico asked as he arrived at his table. Most of his friends turned to give him odd looks. Probably for actually talking at lunch, and perhaps the question itself. Percy was the first to catch on. His eyes darted towards Calypso’s table.  


“He likes her?” Percy asked. Nico nodded, and Percy frowned.  


“Well, he sat with her at breakfast, so either he asked her out and it went well or he hasn’t asked her yet,” Piper observed.  


“Um,” Frank cleared his throat, “I’m gonna guess that they’re dating,” he bobbed his head to where Leo and Calypso sat. The pair had stood up, and were exiting the cafeteria, hand in hand. Nico nodded and turned to his meal. For some reason, it didn’t seem as appetizing as it had when he’d woken up.  


Percy caught up with him as he made his way back to his room. He looked concerned and lost no time in asking Nico if he was alright.  


“I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?” Nico asked curtly.  


“Because Leo–”  


“You’re not still on about that, are you?” Nico snapped.  


“Listen man, just because you weren’t actually dating, you two were close and it’s not hard to see that you’re upset about this.”  


“Are you insinuating that I have feelings for Leo? Do you really, truly, actually believe that? I like to think that you’re smart enough to know that I don’t, and have just been carrying on this stupid joke, but tell me, do you think I like him?”  


“I really do. I see it even if you don’t.”  


“You think you know my feelings better than me? Well, newsflash, you don’t! Now leave me alone!” Nico had escalated into shouting, but Percy was being so irritating he couldn’t stand it. He turned on his heel and ran back to his room.  


Nico spent the next hour or so finishing a math assignment and only looked up from it when there was a knock at the door. He got up wearily, expecting to find Percy when he opened the door. But it was Frank that smiled at him when it swung open.  


“Yes?” Nico asked, unsure of what Frank could want.  


“Hey. Sorry to bother you, but I thought I’d spare you from Percy and his shipping stuff.”  


“Was he going to come and convince me of my undying love for Leo?”  


“Yep. I told him that we had club activities to sort out today.”  


“Thank you for saving me,” Nico smiled, “But I don’t recall being in any clubs.”  


“Not yet. But I thought we could start up the Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club. He’s already too cocky after getting a girlfriend.”  


“I guess I could squeeze time in my busy schedule to start such an important club.”  


“Thought you might think so,” Frank smiled widely and Nico stepped aside to allow Frank into his room. He wondered if Frank might think he needed cheering up, and if so, then why he thought that. Did he think that Nico was upset about Leo liking Calypso, too? He pushed the question out of his mind and he and Frank started putting together their club.  


~~~oOo~~~  


Despite Frank’s efforts to spare Nico from Percy, he got cornered after dinner. Percy dragged him out to the courtyard, never letting go of Nico’s arm, to keep him from bolting.  


“Hey, I’m sorry that I was insensitive. If you don’t wanna talk about Leo, then I won’t talk about it either.” He looked a bit sheepish, and Nico thought that it was possible Annabeth or someone had scolded him for his behavior, which led him to imagining Percy as a puppy being told off for peeing on the carpet, and it was such a funny image that he laughed. He quickly stopped at Percy’s shocked expression.  


“It’s fine. No worries.”  


“Great! But if you do ever wanna talk about Leo, or anything really, you can always talk to me, deal?”  


“Yeah, alright. Deal,” he said mostly to humor Percy. And he received a stunning smile in return.  


“Awesome! Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever important stuff you must do,” Percy said before turning to go back inside. Nico watched him go. Percy really was very nice. And Nico couldn’t help but notice how broad his shoulders were as he walked away…Nico shook his head and went back inside himself. He kept having weird thoughts lately. He’d have to work on that. But, as it turned out, his thoughts weren’t listening to him, and instead decided to focus on Percy. And after about two hours of thinking about how nice, funny, handsome, and just plain great Percy was, he was beginning to question why all he could think about was the tall green-eyed boy. His brain provided an answer: he liked Percy. He decided to ignore that answer. Because it was the wrong one. Because before today he’d had absolutely no interest in Percy. And, beyond that, he’d had absolutely no interest in boys.  


But, by the morning it was clear, no matter how much he wanted to deny it, that he had a big, fat, gay crush on Percy Jackson.


	13. In Which Jason is Really Trying to Help

DISCLAIMER: I tried to steal the characters, but, unfortunately I was caught. So they still do not belong to me  
A/N: k so I suck major ass. I am really deeply sorry about my inability to update...but hey, I can honestly say that no matter what, I won’t abandon the fic. So you’ll get an update eventually...

~~~oOo~~~  


Nico was very much not okay. It was Monday morning and he had to go to English in less than an hour. And he was freaking out. Majorly. He was having what one might call a ‘gay crisis’. Except for that was bullshit. He couldn’t be having a gay crisis because there was no possible way that he was gay. Because, if he was, he’d have figured it out by now, right?  


So then why was he crushing on Percy? And where the hell had the stupid crush come from anyway? He rolled over in bed and pulled his pillow over his head, groaning. Maybe he was mistaken about liking Percy. Or maybe no one, no matter how straight, was safe from crushing on Percy. That had to be it.  


Nico heard Leo start to get up and wondered if he ought to do the same. He hadn’t slept well last night. In fact, Nico doubted if he’d gotten more than three hours of it. Might as well get up and face the day. Or maybe die from pancake overdose at breakfast.  
~~~oOo~~~  


As it turned out, Nico did not overdose on pancakes. Not for lack of trying, mind you. So he was forced to face the day instead. The one good thing was that he only had to be near Percy at meals. He didn’t know how he would’ve managed if they had classes together. As it was, he couldn’t figure out how to act around the boy. He couldn’t for the life of him remember how he used to act with Percy. So he settled for ignoring him.  


But everything got worse as the days went on. He started to feel anger rise up whenever Percy smiled for Annabeth. Whenever they hugged or held hands or even talked. And soon he started to dislike Annabeth very much. He was good at hiding it. Or he thought so anyway. Because he’d had years of practice– pretending he didn’t hate people that he did. Sure, he was maybe a little colder to her than he had once been, and maybe he glared at her when no one was paying attention, but other than that he was perfectly civil.  


Unfortunately for Nico, however, Jason noticed his hidden hostility towards Annabeth. And it didn’t take long before he confronted Nico about it. In fact, it was just after P.E. (they had P.E. the same period, just not the same class) when Jason cornered him in the locker room. Nico knew what was coming. He had seen Jason looking at him oddly whenever he spoke to Annabeth, so logic followed that Jason thought he was mad at her. And of course he was going to try and smooth things over.  


“Hey Nico,” Jason said, oh so casually, blocking Nico from the exit of the locker room.  


“Hey,” Nico replied cooly. Just because he knew what Jason wanted to talk about, did not mean he wanted to talk about it with Jason.  


“So, I’ll just cut to the chase here,” Jason paused, then laughed. In reply to Nico’s questioning look he said, “Well it’s just that I wanted to talk to you about Annabeth, right? And her last name is Chase, so by saying ‘I’ll just cut to the chase’ I made a sort of pun, see?” Nico did see. But he didn’t laugh. And his glare soon cut off Jason’s laughter.  


“Say what you want to say so I can leave,” Nico growled. He didn’t really mind Jason, but he certainly wasn’t in the mood to deal with him.  


“Right. I’ve noticed you’ve been...well, not very friendly to Annabeth lately,” Jason waited before going on, as if expecting Nico to jump right in and explain. When he didn’t, Jason continued, “And, well, I've noticed some other stuff too..." He trailed off, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. “It’s just that...sorry, I don’t want to make you feel weird or anything, but…Can I ask you something?”  


“No,” Nico tried to slip past Jason. But he didn’t get far.  


“Do you like Percy? Like like him?” Jason blurted.That stopped Nico cold in his tracks. He had not expected that. “I’m right, aren’t I?”  


“No!” Nico snapped, forcibly pushing past Jason.  


“Hey, I’m sorry I freaked you out, I just wanted to-”  


“And I just want to not, so leave me alone,” Nico didn’t give Jason time to respond. He bolted down the hallway, away from Jason and to his room.  


But he had not accounted for the fact that he wasn’t the only occupant of his room. And so when he stormed in and flopped down on his bed, a huff of laughter came from behind him. Leo.  


“What’s got your panties in a knot?” The impish boy asked with a lingering smirk.  


“Nothing,” Nico muttered, wishing Leo would drop it. He didn’t, of course.  


“Dude, you look like a tomato! What happened? Must have been something good to make you blush like that!” Leo exclaimed.  


“Maybe my face just looks like this!” Nico realized how stupid it was once it left his mouth. And Leo looked amused beyond belief, which made Nico even more angry and humiliated than he already was. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now. “Now why don’t you leave me alone and go bother your stupid girlfriend or something?” He wasn’t entirely sure where the ‘stupid’ had come from, but at the moment, he didn’t care.  


Leo’s expression was almost one of hurt, but he just nodded and said, “Yeah, I’ll go do that,” and left the room.  


~~~oOo~~~  


It was hours before Leo returned. Or Nico assumed it was Leo, knocking on the door because he’d forgotten his key. But when he reluctantly got off his bed and opened the door, Jason was on the other side, not Leo. He tried to close the door in Jason’s face, but the older boy shoved his way past Nico and shut the door, trapping him.  


“Nico, can we please talk?” Jason asked, trying to catch Nico’s eye. Nico didn’t respond, instead he stalked over to the bathroom and locked himself in. “Fine, be that way. I’ll just talk to you through the door.”  


“Why?”  


“Because I think we need to talk and you locked yourself in the bathroom soo-”  


“No. I mean why do you care so much about it? Why can’t you just leave it?”  


Nico heard what sounded like Jason sliding down the other side of the door. “Because Thalia, you know, my sister, told me something. And I’d like you to hear it.”  


“Why didn’t Thalia just tell me?”  


“She probably figured you had enough to deal with that day. Alright, I’m just gonna say it. You know how our sisters were friends? Well, they talked about you. Or, more like, Bianca talked about you a lot, and one day she told Thalia… Well, she said that she thought that you might be gay. Don’t ask me how she knew; I have no idea. But anyway, she said that she was worried she wouldn’t be there for you when you realized it. To, you know, support you and tell you that there’s nothing wrong with you. I just thought that you should know that. And I’m sorry that she can’t be here to give you her love and support herself.”  


Nico was having trouble understanding what Jason had said. All he knew was he almost wanted to cry, and he had somehow ended up on the floor with his back pressed against the door. “Thank you,” Nico half whispered, not sure if Jason could even hear him.  


“Anytime,” Jason responded.  


“I don’t really… I mean… I don’t want to talk about it. Not right now. But thank you.”  


“I get it, but if you ever change your mind, you can talk to me.”  


“I know.” Nico heard Jason get up, and soon after the sound of a door closing.  


Nico’s head fell back against the bathroom door. He had a lot to sort through, but the knowledge that Bianca had known and had not cared, had even worried that she wouldn’t be able to help him through this made him feel better than he had thought possible. Nico stood and sighed. He had a gay crisis to get through, and a crush to get over.


	14. In Which Packages are Opened

DISCLAIMER: Actually guys, I’m totally Rick Riordan in disguise. Except not. I still can’t even spell his name. So, as per usual, I DO NOT OWN CHARACTERS OKAY. 

~~~oOo~~~  


As it turned out, crushes were not very easy to shake. It was probably made worse by the fact that Nico had never liked someone before, and had no idea how to handle it. So he went for ignoring it, figuring that if he pretended it didn’t exist, it would cease to exist. And, thus far, it was still very much in existence.  


“Nico?” Hazel looked quizzically across the table at her brother. “You haven’t turned the page for ten minutes, are you okay?”  


“Huh?” Nico tore his eyes from the book he’d been reading. Or staring at, really. “Oh, sorry. Just spaced out. I’m fine,” He assured her.  


“Hm,” Hazel didn’t seem entirely convinced, but instead of interrogating him further she simply shrugged and said, “Well, lunch is about to end. Want to head over to science?”  


“Yeah, okay,” Nico put his book away and stood up, shouldering his bag. He and Hazel made their way through the halls and arrived at their class just as the bell rang to indicate the end of lunch. They were about to enter the room when someone shouted Hazel’s name from behind. They turned to see Frank running towards them, waving a notebook with horses on the cover.  


“You forgot this,” Frank huffed as he came to a halt in front of them.  


“I can’t believe I did that!” Hazel took the journal from Frank. “Thank you so much,” she took a step closer to him and rose on her toes to kiss his cheek. Frank’s face went red, and he smiled sheepishly.  


“Anytime,” and then he turned to address Nico, “Hey, I was thinking we should have our first club meeting.”  


“You mean administration passed it?” Nico asked in disbelief. About two weeks ago they had submitted their idea for the Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club, and had been waiting for the ‘okay’ ever since. Except neither of them had really expected to get it. “Did they make us change the name at least?” Nico thought it unlikely the school would let the literal name of a club refer to a student as a ‘shit’.  


“Yes, they passed it, and no, we don’t have to change the name.” Nico raised an eyebrow and Frank grinned, “Apparently they agree that Leo is a little shit. He causes a lot of problems for them, you know.” Nico laughed at this, and Frank and Hazel joined in.  


“Great. Where are we holding the meeting?”  


“Room 302 is available for our use.”  


“See you there after school, then.”  


“Yeah.” Frank glanced at his watch, “Crap. Class starts in three minutes. I’ve gotta dash. Bye!” Hazel and Nico said their farewells as he ran off, and then went into class themselves.  


~~~oOo~~~  


When Nico arrived at room 302 that afternoon, Frank was already there.  


“Hey,” Nico greeted.  


“Hello and welcome to the Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club,” Frank responded.  


“So what is this classroom?” Nico asked, looking around.  


“No clue,” Frank shrugged, “I was just told we could use it.”  


“Right. And aren’t we supposed to have an adult supervisor or something?”  


“Technically, yes. But since Coach Hedge was supposed to watch us I bet we’ll be alone most the time. Any more questions?”  


“Not at the moment, thanks,” Nico shrugged his bag off on the table and scanned the room. He spotted a shelf with what looked like games stored in it and a pack of cards caught his eye. Walking over to examine the shelf more closely, he saw that he’d been right. He picked up the small bundle of cards that had been most of his childhood and stared at it, old memories stirring.  


“Oh wow, I haven’t seen a pack of those in ages!” Frank exclaimed, looking over Nico’s shoulder. “Man, I used to love Mythomagic.”  


“Me too,” Nico said absentmindedly, still lost in his memories of Mythomagic tournaments and long leisure games of it played with his old friends. Friends he hadn’t thought of in ages.  


“For real?” Frank’s tone indicated that he was surprised. Nico supposed that was to be expected. “We should play it!” Frank said, dragging Nico over to a table, where they set up the game and began to play.  


They played Mythomagic and talked for hours, and Nico found himself having fun. But as they played, his mind wandered to a far away time, trying to grasp a memory just out of reach…A grassy hill, a smile, a game of Mythomagic much like the one he was having with Frank.  


~~~oOo~~~  


Nico returned to his room relatively late due to playing a few too many matches of Mythomagic(neither him nor Frank had played in years, and they may have gotten a little too enthusiastic).  


“What kept you?” Leo asked from his bed, where he was twisting copper wires.  


“Club,” Nico grunted, digging through his bag and pulling out homework for the next day.  


“No way.”  


“What?”  


“No way are you in a club.”  


“Why not?”  


“Because, last time I checked, you don’t really like people. And club activities means spending extra time, time in which you could be reading, with a lot of people.”  


“Well, it isn’t exactly a large club.”  


“How many people are in?”  


“Two.”  


“Including you or…?”  


“Including me.”  


“That doesn’t even count as a club, then.”  


“It is an official club. Okayed by the administration and everything.”  


“What club is it?”  


“A good one.”  


“No. What do you do in it?”  


“We’ve only had one meeting so nothing’s written in stone yet.”  


“You’re a pain in the ass. Can you at least tell me the name?”  


“I can.”  


“Jesus I want to hit you. Okay, fine, will you tell me the name?”  


“What’s the magic word?”  


“Oh fuck you.”  


“Not quite.”  


“Please will you tell me the name?”  


“No.”  


“What?”  


“No.”  


“You’re kidding me! Why won’t you tell me?”  


“Because it’s amusing to watch you suffer,” Nico smiled at the irritated expression Leo wore.  


“What’s with you lately?” Leo asked, eyebrows knit.  


“What do you mean?”  


“What I mean is I thought we were getting along! I thought we were friends! But lately you’ve been an asshole, and not in a fun, bantery way, but in a ‘I’m fucking pissed off at you’ way and I have no idea what I did!” Leo shouted, hands gesturing angrily around him.  


Nico started at him. He hadn’t meant to be an asshole, hadn’t been trying to be one. But, looking back at the last couple weeks, it did seem as if he’d been a jerk to Leo. And, if he was being perfectly honest, he’d felt good–satisfied–when he spoke harshly to Leo. But he couldn’t figure out why, or what had triggered it.  


“Whatever. I’m going to Pipes’ room,” Leo spat, stomping across the room and out the door.  


Nico felt guilty, he knew he’d really upset Leo if he was going to sleep in Piper’s room. He sunk onto his bed and rested his head in his hands. When had this started, exactly? He thought about it, and decided it was around two weeks ago. Around the time Leo had started dating Calypso… and that was around the time his crush on Percy had started. That must be it! He was pretty shaken by the whole discovering that he’s gay thing, and crushing on Percy was no fun at all. It was all pretty stressful. And he must’ve taken it all out on Leo.  


“Shit,” Nico murmured, wishing he knew what to do about any of this. He wished Bianca were here to help him. And a wave of grief for his older sister washed over him, so strong he could’ve screamed. It had been awhile since he’d been hit this hard with want for Bianca. He couldn’t help but think that she’d know what to say, what to do, that she’d make everything better. But Bianca had been right, she wasn’t able to be here for him. She was dead and there was nothing she could do to help him from beyond the grave.  


Or maybe, just maybe, there was. Nico recalled his last meltdown. Leo had been there and calmed him down, but, more importantly, the meltdown had been triggered by a box. A box of Bianca’s things from years ago. He had refused to go through it thoroughly, but so desperate was he now for her love and support, he pulled it out from under his bed.  


Nico took a deep breath, and opened the box. There were the books he’d seen when last the box had been opened, and Nico smiled slightly, thinking it just figured that they were books. Hadn’t he been trying to stay connected to his sister through the books he read for years? And so didn’t it make sense that he would seek her help by opening a crate of books now? But the books weren’t the first thing he inspected, instead he picked up the letter from Bianca. It read;

Dear Nico,

I hope you’re doing okay, and I really, truly wish that you will be able to forgive me. I know it can’t be easy for you, and I promise that, one day, I will explain it all to you. But, for the moment, let me just say this: I love you, and I am so very sorry that I can’t be by your side right now. I know that this boarding school means we won’t be able to spend as much time together, but I am always thinking of you, and hope you know you are welcome to write me anytime. I’m always here for you. No matter what. And you can tell me anything, don’t you dare ever worry that I won’t love you because of something you say.  
It’s been pretty mellow here, to tell you the truth, so I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and I think you’d really like some of these books. I’ll send them along as I find them. 

With Love,  
Bianca

Short though it was, the letter meant a lot to Nico. It held words that he had never before heard from Bianca, something she’d told him long ago but that he was only now hearing. He read it through several times, then placed it aside and began to rifle through the books: Leviathan… Lightning… Harry Potter… Artemis Fowl… Fablehaven. He’d heard of a few of the books, though he’d never read any of them. He picked up Artemis Fowl and flipped through the pages. A small blue square of paper fell out, and when Nico scooped it up he saw that it was a sticky note, and that Bianca had scribbled something on it. He looked through all the books Bianca had left him, and saw that each one was full of sticky notes. And, unlike the sticky notes Leo had once put in his books, they were not porn, but little comments Bianca had made, all written as if she were talking to him. Nico swallowed hard, trying not to cry. Bianca had thought of him when reading these books, had written down what she would’ve said to him if he’d been there. And, although she could not give him advice, Bianca had helped him, just by thinking about him, by loving him.  


He was excited to start reading as soon as possible, so he pushed his homework off his bed, and, intending to read until he fell asleep, he pulled off his too-big jacket. And, as he did, he felt the familiar weight of the package in his pocket knock against him. A statue. That’s what Thalia had said it was. And, perhaps caught up in the emotion and excitement of opening the box, Nico pulled the small parcel out of the pocket it had ridden in for years. And he tore it open.  


Out toppled a silver figurine. Nico brought it up to eye level, and when he saw what it was, tears began to pour out of his eyes in earnest. A hades statue. The only Mythomagic statue he didn’t own. Bianca had gotten it for him, knowing how much it would mean to him.  


But, as he held the Mythomagic figurine, another memory surfaced. A grassy hill, a smiling boy, endless Mythomagic games. The boy from Kindergarten, the one that Nico had looked forward to being with almost as much as he’d looked forward to being with Bianca. And, for some reason, the elf like face of the boy in his memories seemed entirely familiar, like a picture on the wall he’d walked past a thousand times, but never really looked at…  


Nico heard the sound of a door slamming, and looked behind him in surprise. He jumped to his feet and pulled open the door, peering out to see Leo Valdez running down the hall, away from him.

~~~oOo~~~  


A/N: Ok, lil disclaimer here: the books mentioned in this chapter were: Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld, Lightning by Dean Koontz, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer, and Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. I own none of those books, but they are some of my favorites so I thought hey why not toss them in there? And for sure look into them if you havent already bc they are amazing.


	15. In Which Cupcakes Assemble!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. I am tempted to tall you where I live so you can come a throttle me. I am so sorry. But hey, I plan on finishing this fic over the summer so don't hate me too much?

DISCLAIMER: I am sorry to inform you all that I in no way own any of the characters in the Percy Jackson books. Tragic, but true. 

~~~oOo~~~  


Nico woke to an empty room and an aching head. He’d done a fair amount of crying the previous night, and was suffering from it now. As he stumbled through his morning routine, two images swam in his head; first, a smiling boy holding a hand of cards in the play ground of his old school, and second, Leo Valdez running down the hall away from their room at top speed.  


As he made his way to breakfast, he was not bothered by thoughts of Percy, as he had been the past weeks, but with thoughts of his nameless friend and of Leo. He couldn’t fathom why Leo would run off. Why had he come back in the first place? But why had he left? And why so horridly? Maybe he’d seen Nico crying, breaking down— but that hadn’t scared him off before. So why?  


And then there was the impish boy from his childhood. Nico felt old emotions towards the boy spring up inside him; happiness and warmth, excitement and joy, anticipation and adoration. How could he have forgotten all this? He’d been so found of that boy, it was absurd that he’d forgotten him. And, as the day went on, he found that the boy had burrowed right back into his heart and made a place for himself — bigger than even those of his three best friends in elementary — bigger, perhaps than the spots allotted to a couple of his new friends.  


But his thoughts weren’t loud enough to drown out the hubbub that lunch presented.  


“I’m telling you, I saw this insane setup in the gym!” Leo shouted with excitement, “I think it was like some sort of insane killer obstacle course!”  


“That sounds fantastic!” Percy cut in, but Annabeth put in her two cents before he could get too worked up.  


“He’s exaggerating. It’s probably some hula-hoops and cones for us to navigate.”  


“But this is Hedge we’re talking about,” Jason pointed out. “And he’s pretty crazy.”  


“But where would the school even get the resources to set that up?” Frank asked.  


“Please, this school is crazier than Hedge. I wouldn’t put it past them.” Piper seemed as excited about a crazy killer obstacle course as Leo did.  


“Guess we’ll find out next period,” Hazel shrugged. Nico remembered that they all shared the same class period for PE — they were just in different classes.  


“If there really is an obstacle course, I wonder what class it’s for.” Nico pondered.  


As it turned out, the answer was all of them.  


“Listen here, Cupcakes,” Coach Hedge shouted to the group of teenagers huddled in the gym. “Today you will be pushed to your limits. Physically, mentally, emotionally, every single limit you have will be pushed! Today will go down in history as the day the champions of PE rise above! We will be holding several competitions, races, and… well you get the point, all in order to test your abilities and eliminate the unworthy. Understood?” He bellowed, and the kids responded with varying levels of enthusiasm.  


“I don’t understand why.” Nico muttered to his group of friends.  


“Your PE teacher is out, so Coach Hedge gets all the classes,” Piper jumped in to explain, “From what I hear, he’s been wanting to do this for ages, and got the administration to agree to it for making him handle two classes.”  


“Ah. I miss Mrs Mikes already,” Nico lamented. She never made them do much of anything. Most days, he and Hazel got away with walking laps and talking.  


“What are you talking about? Hedge is great. Always something happening in his class.” Leo grinned. “I almost convinced him to let us play flaming dodge ball.”  


“Sounds awful.”  


“Pft, you’re just boring.”  


“Flaming dodge ball? Leo, why does that sound fun to you?”  


“Why doesn’t it sound fun to you?” He met Nico’s eyes as he said this, but looked away too quickly. Clued into the fact that there was something weird going on between them, Nico didn’t respond.  


“Anyway, what’s with this ‘eliminate the unworthy’ stuff?” Annabeth wondered aloud, hiding any awkward silence Nico might have created.  


“It’s a contest, duh.” Percy answered, earning a shove from his girlfriend.  


“Obviously, but what sort of contest is my question. And what are the consequences for losing?”  


“How do you know there’ll be consequences for losing?” Piper asked, and Annabeth raised an eyebrow at her before replying simply:  


“Because this is Coach Hedge we’re talking about.”  


“Good point. I guess our best bet is to not lose, so the consequences won’t matter anyway.” Piper’s plan was well received and everyone was agreeing when Coach Hedge whistled for their attention.  


“Let’s boot out the weaklings right away,” he boomed. “Push ups, one minute! Those still pushing up after my mark will move on. Ready, set, go!”  


And so everyone dropped to the floor and started at the task. Nico wasn’t great at pushups, but he had a method: go slow. He knew his limit was eight push ups, ten on a good day, and therefore he had to make those ninish pushups last sixty seconds. That was a little over ten seconds for each one. So he took his time. And, to his utter astonishment, it worked. When Hedge blew his whistle, Nico was among those remaining.  


“Looks like we’re all still here,” Jason commented before Nico could take a mental roll of his friends to see who’d succeeded.  


“That’s not too surprising,” Frank shrugged. And it wasn’t. Percy, Frank, Jason, Annabeth, and Piper were all in great physical shape and could have push upped themselves into next week. Hazel wasn’t surprising either, she was in good shape, plus she was light. There were, however, a few unlikely champions, and everyone realized this, turning to stare at Nico and Leo.  


“Don’t look so surprised,” Nico grumbled. True, he was no good at push ups (honestly, he didn’t understand how anyone could be), but it irked him that they all paired him with Leo, assuming he was weak and scrawny. Really, he was stronger than most people his age and in fair enough shape. Punching bags paired with anger had made him adequately fit.  


“Leo’s stronger than he looks,” Calypso chimed in. Calypso. Nico had forgotten about her.  


“Gross,” Nico muttered it, but his voice was not alone. He turned to find Frank, and their eyes met with a knowing smile. There was a reason they were the co-founders of the Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club. Leo huffed at them, but again they were interrupted by Hedge.  


“Nicely done, Cupcakes. Looks like half of you sorry suckers have already failed. But don’t worry, more of your friends will be joining you soon… Next, we play capture the flag!” Hedge’s last words were met with genuine excitement from the students.  


“I love this game,” Annabeth breathed, and Piper and Hazel nodded enthusiastically.  


“Man, we’ve got to be on the same team,” Leo said. “Only one team can win, and I’d hate to make some of you go to the bleachers with tails between your legs.” The others, including Nico, snorted.  


But, mercifully, they all ended up on the same team, as Hedge had made the groups by splitting the students down the middle. Which meant their group of eight against the other remaining students.  


“Alright Team Orange, how are we going to win this?” Percy asked, already herding what had been named the orange team into a huddle.  


“By getting their flag?” Leo suggested. Calypso nudged him in the shoulder. Nico frowned at this and found his mind wondering. Back to Kindergarten, back to the boy with the strangely pointy ears. When he snapped back to present time, the huddle was breaking, and he assumed Annabeth had laid out a plan for them. She was the strongest strategist by far.  


“Don’t let Leo do anything to mess up our plan, okay?” Annabeth whispered pleasantly to Nico as she passed.  


“Huh?”  


“I know I told Calypso to keep him under control, but I don’t know if she will. She likes him too much. I know you won’t fail me,” she laid her hand briefly on his shoulder before smiling at him and walking off. And then guilt hit. Nico felt borderline awful for disliking her so much the past two weeks. She’d always been nice to him. In fact, she was always kind and helpful, and she’d done nothing to warrant his dislike. Except date Percy. He felt petty and dumb for being an ass to her over a stupid crush. A crush, he suddenly realized, that seemed to have up and left sometime before this morning. Not once had he thought of Percy, felt mad at Annabeth, been overly aware of Percy in anyway. Maybe his ignoring method had worked, or maybe he was just temporarily free from his crush because of last night and the crying and Leo running away… Leo! Nico looked around for his almost-friend, remembering Annabeth’s request: keep Leo from fucking shit up. 

~~~oOo~~~

“Leo, no!” Nico scrambled after Leo, attempting to grab his wrist.  


“Leo, yes!” Leo screeched manically, just evading Nico’s clutches.  


“You’ll fuck everything up! Jesus, just stay put!” Nico was so done with Leo. So very very done. The boy had proven to be difficult to stop from fucking shit up. Thus far, Nico had managed to keep him under control, but this time he feared he’d fail. Leo was making a mad dash for the border to Purple Team, presumably to go after their flag. Nico was sure that would screw up Annabeth’s careful plan, though he hadn’t been paying attention to it (something he regretted now, as it was obvious Leo either hadn’t heard a word of it either, or he just didn’t care).  


“Make me!” Leo taunted, almost to the other side of the borderline.  


“For fuck’s sake –– fine! I will!” And with that, Nico tackled Leo, throwing himself at the curly haired freak. The both toppled to the ground, and Nico quickly wrestled his way over Leo, pinning him to the floor. “I told you to stay put,” he growled. “We are not moving an inch until this game is over.”  


Leo stared at him in shock for a moment before speaking. “Are you sure about that? I mean, uh, you are… well, to put it delicately, you’re straddling me. In the middle of the gym.” Leo’s smirk was slowly making its appearance, and Nico knew this was the part where he was supposed to blush and scramble away. But that smirk was almost like a challenge, and Nico wouldn’t back down. He willed his cheeks to stay pale and readjusted his grip on Leo’s arms.  


“I repeat, we are not moving an inch until this game is over.” This seemed to surprise Leo. That made Nico smile. He felt like he’d won already. But that didn’t mean the following minutes weren’t unbearably awkward and increasingly uncomfortable. His only solace was that Leo seemed just as uncomfortable as, if not more than, he was.  


“Couldn’t you at least get my ‘stupid girlfriend’ to do this?” Leo snapped eventually.  


“Should’ve thought of that before giving her the slip,” Nico pointed out, then he realized what exactly Leo had said. “And is that what this is about? Me calling Calypso stupid?” Nico asked incredulously. But that didn’t make sense, not all the way. It didn’t explain why he’d run away last night. But maybe he was reading too much into things. Nico sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry I said that. And that I’ve been shitty lately, I just… I fucked up,” he spat at laugh. “I’m fucked up. Sorry, Leo.”  


“Being fucked up is a requirement here, remember? And I guess I’ll accept your apology, since it was so sincere. But next time, don’t use me as a punching bag, yeah?”  


“Promise,” Nico mumbled, embarrassed that Leo had caught on to that.  


“Guys,” Annabeth said from above, amusement tinging her voice. “Game’s over. We won. You can stop your…” she trailed off, gesturing to their current position. Nico immediately rolled off Leo, pleasantly surprised to see that there was a blush on Leo’s cheeks when he couldn’t feel one on his own.  


“Great plan, Annabeth, I knew it’d win us the game,” Nico grinned towards her. She seemed taken aback, probably because of his poor behavior towards her recently, but she soon recovered.  


“Couldn’t have won without you keeping that monstrosity,” she jerked her head at Leo, “from ruining it.”  


“Hey, I was just making things exciting!” Leo protested.  


“Like hell you were,” Nico said, elbowing him lightly in the ribs. He saw Calypso tighten her lips at the interaction and wondered why. What threat could he pose? But it did feel good to be the one harassing Leo again, rather than watching her do it. 

~~~oOo~~~

“Cupcakes, you are the finest this school has to offer. And it is time to narrow you down to the Cupcake Champions! Some of you already noticed the lovely obstacle course I set up in Gym 2, and I bet you were all wondering when you’d get to play on it. The answer is now. I’ll be separating you into teams of three to participate in a relay obstacle course race!”  


“Yes!” Leo high fived with Percy, and Piper shushed them, trying to hear the teams.  


“Percy, Piper, and Hazel.” The coach shouted. The three of them jumped, thinking themselves in trouble before realizing that this was Hedge’s way of announcing the teams. “Annabeth, Frank, Jason.” They moved together. “Calypso, Leo, Nico.” That came as no surprise; they were the only three remaining. “Alright Cupcakes, let’s move out!” And with that Hedge marched out— with a moment’s hesitation, the students (even those who had ‘failed’) followed after him.  


When Nico entered Gym 2 he stopped in shock. It was horrendous.  


“Told you!” Leo gloated, brandishing to the obstacle course before them.  


“This isn’t exactly what you’d lead me to believe it was…” Piper seemed somewhere between horror and amusement.  


“Hush, it’s brilliant,” Hazel was completely entranced by the modge podge of giant inflatable slides, tunnels, swings, ball pits, loops, climbing structures, and whatever else made up Hedge’s obstacle course. She wasn’t the only one excited about it, either. Most had positive reactions to it, actually. Some seemed baffled and/or amused. Nico was alone in thinking it was a literal plasticy hell.  


But that wasn’t even the worst of it. Coach hedge appeared with a box of cupcakes and started in on his next set of directions. “This is your time to shine, Cupcakes. You will be going through a relay obstacle course. Each team will receive a cupcake and the goal is to get that cupcake to me. Of course, I expect my cupcake to be in perfect condition when it gets to me at the end of the race. The rules are simple: each team member has to participate. The course has three markers, the start, one third in, and two thirds in. Can you guess what those markers mean? That’s right, they’re where one teammate from each group has to be. Go through your part of the course, hand the cupcake off to the next person. Simple. You only get one cupcake, so don’t lose it. If you cheat, you’re out. You have to actually go through every obstacle, understood? Good. Now then, I take two things into consideration when picking a winning team: how fast you got to me, and what condition your cupcake is in. Now get to your places!” Hedge watched as they scrambled to get their cupcakes and rush to their marks, then went to stand by the end of the course. “Three… two… one… go!”  


Leo was first up in their team, and Nico watched as he climbed to the top of the bouncy slide faster than Frank or Hazel could manage, then slide down into the ball pit.  


“Leo! Keep the cupcake safe!” Nico shouted, wincing as Leo splashed into the balls. He needn’t have worried; Leo’s hand was held above him, cupcake safe and sound. Then he was wading. And man, was he bad at it. Hazel overtook him, launching out of the ball pit before either of the boys. Nico cursed under his breath until, finally, Leo was out. The last one, but still. He hopped through the army style inflatable loop stepping portion with ease, and left Frank in the dust. The last obstacle between Leo and the hand off to Nico was a tight rope. That was going to be tricky. They were elevated maybe two feet off the ground, and there were three of them so each team could attack them at the same time. But the tight rope was made out of rubber full of air, and it was squishy and wobbly. Hazel was already tackling the far right, and was teetering on only her second step. Leo plopped down on the middle one, straddling it and scooting as fast as he could with one hand. He was half way before Hazel caught on and followed suite. But it was too late— Leo sprawled across the bar and held the cupcake out to Nico. Nico snatched it, accidentally grabbing Leo’s hand. Which resulted in Leo tipping over, hanging onto the plastic tight rope upside down. But Nico didn’t have time to deal with that. He was off.  


First, he had to army crawl through a tunnel. Lucky for him, there was only one, and he was first to it, so that clogged up Percy and Jason. It wasn’t a hard task, but the next one sure was. Three side by side loops like those found on roller coasters loomed before him. Hand holds, like monkey bars, lined the inside of the track. Obviously, Nico would have to climb it. On handed. He took the left one, jumping to reach the high wrung. And then he hung there, unsure how to proceed. Jason was on the loop next to him. He tackled the thing two handed. Cupcake and all. He was making fast progress, but he was ruining the cupcake with each swing. Nico dropped from his loop. Then he jumped to grab the next one. The good news was he could reach the apex of the curve and his cupcake was in perfect condition. But it was slow, and rather embarrassing. When he finally finished with the loop he barreled off to find Percy and Jason at a climbing wall. Jason was almost done, Percy was at the top.  


“Fuck,” Nico whispered. Then he saw there was a hole through the wall. Small, but it was definitely part of the course. He crawled through it pretty easily, and was on Jason’s heels in an instant. His progress caused Percy to jump from the top of the climbing wall in his haste to catch up, and he landed with a thud that shook the squishy air filled monstrosity Nico and Jason were running on. It sent them tumbling, and Nico almost dropped the cupcake. But not quite. He got to his feet and ran at full speed to Calypso, passing his pastry off just after Percy.  


It was all up to Calypso now, but Nico’s attention was torn from the race when Leo appeared by his side.  


“Not bad. Our cupcake looks best. If Calypso can even pull off second, I think we’ll win.”  


“And what does that do for us?”  


“I’d bet you he lets us eat the leftover cupcakes.”  


“What’re you willing to bet?”  


“Something extremely valuable, of course.”  


“Of course. But what would that be, exactly?”  


“A kiss from yours truly,” Leo’s eyebrows were wiggling again, but they stopped short. And Leo just stared at Nico in what looked like shock. Nico couldn’t fathom why. Leo was the one saying it, after all. Besides, it wasn’t even anything outside the usual. In fact…  


“Actually, I’m pretty sure you already promised me one of those,” he’d meant it to be a normal, offhand remark, another jab in their verbal dual. But Leo’s ears turned red. Which made Nico’s face grow hot. He opened his mouth to try and remedy his blunder, but —  


“And Annabeth beats Calypso by a second!” Hedge bellowed, snapping both Nico and Leo’s attention to him. Jason let out a whoop.  


“We’ve won,” Nico turned back to Leo, who nodded in agreement.  


“And the prize goes to…Team Hazel, Percy, and Piper!”  


“What?” Nico was pretty sure everyone joined him in saying it.  


“That doesn’t make sense!” Jason shouted.  


“That’s not fair!” Leo protested.  


“Life’s not fair. Now quit your boo-hooing and help me deflate all these damn things.” And by ‘help’ he meant ‘do it for me,’ because he left the gym without so much as a backwards glance.  


“That man is bat shit crazy.” Leo said, watching the coach leave.  


“I have to agree,” Hazel appeared next to Nico. “Hey, I’m sorry we won. Your guys’ cupcake was perfect. You should’ve won for sure.”  


“Huh?” Nico looked at Hazel and laughed. “I don’t care. It was a dumb game lead by crazy man.”  


“Yeah, and we didn’t even get anything,” Percy fake pouted.  


“I’ll grab you a cupcake,” Annabeth laughed, but found herself swept into the air by Percy before she could.  


“You’re great,” Percy beamed at her. And then he kissed her. Nico expected to feel sick and angry at the sight, but he didn’t. And when their kiss set off a domino of kissing, he wasn’t even upset by Frank leaning down to kiss Hazel’s nose. He smiled at the two dorks before turning to comment about that to Leo. Only, Leo was in a lip lock with Calypso. And that’s when his stomach churned and nausea washed over him, making him double over in pain and surprise. And then the horror settled over him.


	16. In Which Nico Needs to Talk

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own the thing. 

~~~oOo~~~  


“Jason?” Nico pounded on door 27 with desperation. His thoughts hadn’t let him sleep at all that night. Instead, he’d been rolling around in bed for five hours thinking about the boy from recess. And even worse, thinking about Leo. And then he couldn’t take it anymore. So he came here. To the room Jason and Percy shared. It was probably stupid of him, but he’d thought talking with Jason would be better than being alone with his thoughts. So he redoubled his efforts at the door, letting his voice raise louder than a whisper. “Jason! It’s Nico, I need to talk to you—”  


“Whaddyawant?” The door creaked open to reveal a groggy Percy. A shirtless, groggy Percy. And Nico didn’t care. Not even a bit. No flush, no excitement, no desire to stare.  


“Is Jason here?”  


“What?” Percy rubbed his eyes, focusing on Nico. “Uh, yeah. Why…? Why do you want Jason?”  


“Because.” And Nico pushed past Percy into the room. He made his way to the lumpy bed that was presumably Jason. “Jason,” Nico tore the blanket off from the boy. Thankfully, this got Jason to stir. He sat up sleepily, eyes finding Nico and clouding with confusion.  


“Nico?”  


“Yeah,” suddenly, he was very aware of Percy watching them. And finally his brain had the sense to feel embarrassed for being here. “I…uh. I need to…to talk.” He tried to say it quietly, but everyone in the room clearly heard his words.  


“Oh,” Jason said, waking up fully and swinging his legs out of bed. “Yeah. Yeah, one sec.” Jason scrambled to put on his shoes and then he and Nico were leaving a very confused Percy behind. “What’s up? Anything wrong?”  


“No. Not really. I just. Ugh, I don’t know.” Nico ran a hand down his face, trying to collect his thoughts.  


“Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m sure it’s no biggie, whatever it is. Here, let’s go the roof. It always helps me clear my head, you know?”  


“I thought the roof was only for triple dates? Plus Leo…” And then Nico was thinking of the last time — the only time — he’d been on the roof. How he’d seen through Leo’s mask and —  


“Technically, yeah. But I’m pretty sure we all go up alone every now and again.” Jason led him to the roof and once they were there, allowed Nico a moment in the brisk night air to collect himself.  


“I don’t like Percy,” was the first thing he was able to say.  


“Huh? I thought —“  


“I know. I thought so too. But, well, this is going to sound really dumb but it just… left.”  


“Your crush on Percy just left?” Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.  


“Yes! I couldn’t think of anything other than Percy, Percy, Percy for two whole weeks and then yesterday poof! Nothing! All gone!”  


“Are you sure?  


“Positive. I didn’t feel a thing when he kissed Annabeth after that stupid race, and I cared even less when I saw him half naked five minutes ago! I’m telling you, it’s like it never even existed! And I can’t even remember why I liked him so much in the first place, and I feel like that’s not normal. I mean, aren’t these things suppose to take time to get over? It’s not normal for a crush to just get up and walk right out of your head, is it? I don’t know— “  


“Woah, calm down there,” Jason put a hand on Nico’s shoulder and Nico realized that his confession had turned into a 70 mph ramble and that he’d been too busy talking to breath. So he stopped and forced himself to calm down. “It’s not exactly normal for a crush to just vanish, but it’s not impossible either. Not a big deal at all. Anyway, isn’t it good that you don’t like Percy anymore? So why are you freaking out?”  


“Because!”  


“Go on,” Jason prompted.  


“I think Percy was just a distraction my brain made,” Nico spat out the words that had been floating around in his head for hours, finally making the idea into a solid reality.  


“I don’t understand.”  


“I like someone else.” There. He’d said it. “Well, I think I do, anyway.”  


“Oh. Alright. But I still don’t understand…”  


“My dumb brain didn’t know how to deal with my feelings so it targeted on Percy when Leo —" he stopped abruptly. Half because of Jason’s gasp and half because he’d just realized what he’d said. No taking it back. He’d have to face it all now.  


“You like Leo?” Jason asked in disbelief.  


“No!”  


“But you said —“  


“I know! But he’s not the one I like. He just…reminds me of someone.”  


“Explain?”  


“When I was a kid, I think I fell in love with this boy. I never knew his name, but he was the first one to make an effort to know me. He’d come sit by me at recess and we’d play this dumb card game I was obsessed with. He disappeared though, and I forgot about him after a couple years. I mean, I had more pressing things to worry about than a boy I barley knew. But… Leo reminds me of him. They both have curly hair and smile a lot, and I didn’t even realize— I still didn’t remember the boy — but I started to think of Leo as him. And I projected those feelings on to Leo a bit. And then…”  


“And then Leo started dating Calypso,” Jason finished.  


“Yeah. And I didn’t know how to react to that. I didn’t even know I had feelings — projected feelings— for him. So I guess I kinda just… latched onto Percy. It was easier than thinking I was in love with Leo would’ve been.”  


“So when’d you remember the boy?”  


“Two days ago. A piece from that card game we played reminded me. And then the next day, my crush on Percy was gone.”  


“And Leo?”  


“I’m still working on it. He reminds me of that boy so much and I know it’s not him but I…”  


“Your heart won’t listen to your brain, huh?”  


“No.” They were quiet for a moment. “Hey, you can’t tell this stuff to anyone, okay?”  


“I promise I won’t. But I can’t stop wondering where your lover boy went.”  


“You and me both,” Nico sighed.  


“So you don’t know anything about him?”  


“He was in second grade, I think. We talked a lot, but I can’t remember what about.”  


Jason didn’t get a chance to respond because just then the door slammed. They both jumped and turned to the door. No one was there. Not now, anyway. Nico felt himself panic and he rushed to the door, yanking it open. And for the second time in two nights, he was met with Leo’s hurriedly retreating back.


	17. In Which Nico is Manhandled

DISCLAIMER: I solemnly swear I don’t fucking own Percy Jackson. 

~~~oOo~~~  


Nico didn’t even pause to say goodbye to Jason before barreling down the stairs after Leo. He didn’t know what he’d do when he caught up. He almost didn’t want to catch up. But he had to. He didn’t know how much Leo had heard, but no matter what, it wasn’t good. And this confrontation would be painfully awkward.  


“Fuck fuck fuck fuck!” Nico breathed, feeling sick and flushed. “Leo!” He called. “Will you slow down! I know you can hear me!” Because Nico could hear Leo’s pounding footsteps and labored breaths. Then it occurred to him that he could say what he needed to without facing Leo. “Hey! How much did you hear back there? Fuck, never mind. It doesn’t matter. You don’t understand! I don’t know what you’re thinking right now, but I promise you it’s wrong!” Nico was shouting between wheezes. He was sure Leo was in earshot, and if he wanted to keep it that way, he’d have to keep running. “Listen, asshole, it’s not you I’m in love with so calm down!” Nico yelled in exasperation, ready to go on explaining but then he rounded a corner and yelped with surprise when he ran into Leo.  


“But it is me,” Leo hissed, and Nico was too caught up with the panic in Leo’s eyes to understand what he’d said—  


“What—?” Nico scrunched his eyebrows together when it dawned on him what had just happened. But Leo didn’t explain. Instead, he grabbed Nico’s arm and tugged him into the wall. Only, it wasn’t really the wall; there was a door leading to a small room. “Hey!” Nico protested. He’d never been one for man handling.  


“Look—“  


“I can’t. There’s no light in here. I can’t see anything.”  


“You know what I mean,” Leo snapped. Nico realized Leo’s hand was still closed around his arm. Probably so he wouldn’t try to run away. Good thinking on Leo’s part, because now that he was here he really did want to run.  


“I told you that—!” Nico was cut off by Leo’s free hand clamping over his mouth. He was too surprised to object.  


“I woke up and wanted some fresh air so I came up to the roof. But I was there first. I mean, I was already there when you and Jason came. And, like a jackass, I decided to stick around and hear what you two were up to instead of leaving before you started talking…”  


Nico tugged Leo’s hand away from his mouth. He couldn’t tell if he was blushing. He thought about yelling at Leo for eavesdropping, but instead he said “Then why are you freaking out so much? If you heard it all then you know—“  


“That you’re in love with me.”  


“That I’m not in love with you!” Was Leo teasing him? Or had he missed something on the roof?  


“I never thought it was you…” Leo muttered. To himself, seeing as Nico had no idea what that meant.  


“God, what is with you? I know this is pretty awful for both of us, but I made it pretty clear that I…” Nico didn’t know how to finish that sentence. Every variation seemed equally embarrassing, so he let it hang.  


“The hill.”  


“What?”  


“You always sat on top of that hill, playing that magic myth game alone.” Leo spoke softly, and a chill ran up Nico’s back.  


“No…” An image of the boy popped up in Nico’s mind, clearer now than ever. Cleared because he could see who that boy became.  


“Yeah…”  


“There’s no way— shit like this doesn’t happen — you’re lying!” Nico was freaking out. He’d had it all figured out. He’d known where he stood. He’d known he’d never see that boy again. And that’s how he’d wanted it.  


“You were right, I was in 2nd grade. I left… I left because my mom died. In a fire. In my fire.” His voice cracked and Nico wondered when the last time he’d told this story was. His hand moved of its own accord, finding Leo’s and holding it loosely, not daring to say anything. “I… I caught our shop on fire, and she died— I killed her. Andthentheyputmeinfostercareand—” He was talking too fast for Nico to understand now.  


“You didn’t kill her,” he said fiercely, squeezing Leo’s hand in his. “It was an accident—”  


“That doesn’t make it any less my fault.”  


“You can’t think that way.”  


“Why not?” Leo jerked violently out of Nico’s grasp and crossed to the other side of the small room. “It’s the truth…” He sounded so utterly broken, Nico wondered if he’d actually ever seen past Leo’s mask at all.  


“No, it’s not true. And I happen to know you aren’t telling me the whole story.”  


“What?”  


“My father’s a lawyer. I remember him getting involved in that case.” It seemed dumb to him now that he hadn’t put the pieces together; that he hadn’t seen that his missing friend was the orphaned child of the mechanic who’d died in the fire. But then, he had been six at the time. “You had a nanny. She was supposed to be watching you. If anything, it’s her fault.” Nico tentatively made his way across the room. He found Leo’s face with his hands, and was only half surprised to find tears on Leo’s cheeks. “You were eight. It wasn’t your fault. And I’m sure your mom would agree.” Nico expected Leo to argue back. Or maybe change the subject back to where this all had started — to Nico’s crush on Leo. What he didn’t expect was for Leo to wrap an arm around his waist. He gasped in surprise and was suddenly very aware that his hands were still cupping Leo’s face. He was about to pull away. To run away, but then Leo’s other hand was on the back of his head, tangling in his hair, pushing his face towards Leo’s. And then Leo was kissing him.


	18. In Which Nico is(n't) a Boyfriend Thief

DISCLAIMER: I don’t have any clever ways to say this: I have no claim to the characters of PJO. 

~~~oOo~~~  


Nico was left standing in the small room off the stairs to the roof. Surprisingly, when Leo had broken the kiss he hadn’t run. He’d just… left. Neither had spoken since Nico’s last reassurances, before the kiss. Jesus. The kiss. He’d kissed Leo. More accurately, Leo had kissed him. How had that happened? He hadn’t even been thinking anything like that; when Leo had started talking about his mom, the only thing Nico had been able to think about was comforting his friend. He hadn’t even really had time to accept the fact that Leo was the boy he’d been more or less in love with since he was six. Jesus. He’d just kissed that boy. And now it all caught up with him. His lingering feelings for Leo plus his ample feelings for his ‘lost love’ combined in his head (Nico had no doubt Jason would’ve said heart rather than head) with something that felt much like an explosion. Jesus. He’d kissed Leo. At the time, his stomach had dropped and his brain had gone blank. It’d been the last thing in the world he’d ever expected. But it had been a good sort of sensation anyway, and he hadn’t exactly resisted the kiss… far from it, really. But now…now his stomach was properly reacting to that kiss. It wouldn’t stop flipping, and his mind wouldn’t stop reeling.  


And then he was laughing. It was rather ridiculous. In one day he’d gone from thinking he was crushing on Leo, to figuring out he was in love with someone he thought he’d never see again, to finding out that someone was Leo, to being kissed by Leo.  


“Nico? Fuck, are you okay?” Nico looked up to find Jason staring down at him. That’s when he realized he was on the floor clutching his stomach. He laughed harder.  


“I didn’t know you swore, Jason. You’re like the real life Captain America. You don’t swear.” Nico said this all between fits of laughter.  


“You’ve lost it. Oh God, you’ve lost it. What on earth did Leo say?” Jason seemed genuinely worried, which was hilarious.  


“I’m fine, really,” Nico managed.  


“No really, if I’m Captain America, you’re The Joker.”  


“Hey— Cap’s Marvel, Joker’s DC, you can’t just—” he waved his arms, trying to convey his point, but decided laughing was a better route.  


“Do you want to talk about it?” Jason asked tentatively, sitting down next to Nico.  


“Marvel Vs DC? Not really.”  


“Stop being difficult. You know what I mean.”  


“I’m fine.” Nico stopped his laughing, trying to seriously reassure Jason. He seemed pretty freaked out. “I caught up to Leo and we talked about what happened on the roof and we cleared up the thing about me having a kinda crush on him.” Though not in the way he’d meant to…  


“Yeah? How’d that go?”  


“Not how I’d expected.” Nico didn’t go on, but Jason was staring at him like he expected more.  


“So are you and Leo…good?”  


“Uh,” Nico thought about that one. Probably either Leo would ignore him, or ignore that the kiss had happened— that this whole fiasco had happened.  


“That doesn’t sound good.”  


“We’ll see.”  


“Okay…so why where you in here having a panic attack?”  


“I was not having a panic attack.”  


“An appendicitis then?”  


“Don’t try to be funny. I was laughing.”  


“Yeah, like a maniac. At the very least that was a nervous breakdown.”  


“It was not…well,” Nico added after considering it, “maybe. But only a little one. Besides, it’s not like it was uncalled for. I’m tired as hell and tonight was pretty weird.”  


“Alright, I’ll give you that. Now come on, let’s get you to bed,” Jason started tugging Nico up with him.  


“I can take care of myself. I’m not ten.” Nico grumbled, yanking his arm out of Jason’s grasp.  


“Yeah, because twelve is so much better.”  


“I’m not twelve!”  


“Not far from it, though.”  


Nico huffed but didn’t respond, instead he marched out of the small room and headed on his way to bed. “Were you looking for me?” Nico asked after a stretch of silence.  


“Huh? Oh, kinda. I hadn’t thought you’d actually catch up with Leo, and I thought that if you did, things could get ugly, so I figured I ought to be around. Just in case.”  


“Why’d you think things would get ugly?”  


“You and Leo are good at fighting, I was worried he’d catch you on fire or you’d throw a blunt object at him and that neither of you would slow down enough to actually talk.”  


“That does sound like us, doesn’t it?”  


“Yeah. But it looks like I was worried over nothing. Almost nothing,” he corrected, most likely thinking back to the state he’d found Nico in.  


“We’ll see,” Nico muttered again, but Jason either didn’t hear or didn’t respond. Nico didn’t mind the silent walk back to the dorms, where they parted ways with tired goodbyes. 

~~~oOo~~~

Nico wasn’t surprised in the least when he found his sleeping quarters empty. This was exactly the kind of situation that the Roommate Pact had been made for. Leo would be in Piper’s or Hazel’s room right now. Nico didn’t dwell on it. He was trying not to think about Leo at all, really. If he did he’d spend the entire night tossing and turning and thinking. Or maybe even do something super dumb like hugging Leo’s pillow or some such nonsense. 

~~~oOo~~~

Luckily, Nico woke up the next morning with his dignity in tact. Or, for the most part at least. He hadn’t dozed off immediately, and while he had spent a fair amount of time thinking about Leo, he hadn’t done anything beyond that. He was pretty disgusted at himself for turning so mushy so fast. Honestly, this was way worse than liking Percy. Because he’d never disliked Percy, and he’d never kissed Percy, and he’d never really liked Percy. That much was clearer to him now than ever. He hadn’t felt sick when he thought about Percy, and he hadn’t wanted so desperately for the older boy to like him back. Not to mention it hadn’t been this embarrassing. Liking Leo was mortify. And not just because of people’s reactions if they found out — or that Leo had found out— no. It was worse than that. He was embarrassing himself.  


That at least spurred him into familiar territory as he headed to breakfast. What gave Leo the right to make him feel so dumb? And, come to think of it, what the hell did Leo think he was doing by kissing him? That was unfair and assish for so many reasons. He had a girlfriend. He knew Nico liked him. But that hadn’t stopped Leo from kissing him. And the anger he felt towards Leo was a relief. It was better than pining after him, anyway.  


“So?” Hazel asked as she popped up beside him in the cafeteria.  


“So, what?”  


“So what was your night time excursion with Jason about?” Hazel beamed at him, and Nico groaned.  


“I am going to kill Jason,” he mumbled.  


“Oh, Jason’s not the one that told me. Actually, he won’t say a word about it.”  


“Percy,” Nico said more to himself than Hazel, but she nodded anyway.  


“So?” She asked again. Nico shook his head and refused to answer. But as soon as he joined the crew at the table he was asked again and again what was up with his ‘freak out’ last night.  


“Do I need to be worried?” Piper asked him after he’d thought the subject had been dropped. “I mean, Jason has been talking about you lots recently, but I figured he was just being his usual self. But be honest with me, are you stealing my boyfriend? Because it’s rather rude to do so without giving two weeks notice, you know.” She was joking, of course, but it made Nico feel awful. Because he had been doing boyfriend-stealing type things last night. Not with Jason, and it wasn’t like Nico had initiated it really, but still. He felt pretty guilty when his eyes fell on the table Calypso and Leo shared.  


“Come on you guys, it was nothing.” Jason said, trying to save Nico from more questions. It was a nice thought. Not successful one, but nice.  


“Are you kidding me? I thought he was dying the way he burst in last night,” Percy insisted.  


“You make it sound like I busted down the door or something,” Nico grumbled. He was ignored. Breakfast went on with everyone commenting and speculating on the events of last night. It wasn’t until the end of the meal that the subject changed. Or everyone but Jason and Nico thought it did.  


“Speaking of last night, Leo came bursting into my room at an ungodly hour. What was up with that?”  


“No clue. I was off stealing your boyfriend at the time, remember?”  


“Good point. The idiot probably locked himself out of the room and was too embarrassed to admit it.” 

~~~oOo~~~

At dinner, Leo and Calypso joined them at their table for awhile. Nico made sure to mention that he was going to go study in the library until late tonight before leaving the cafeteria. He didn’t head for the library. He went straight to his room and waited. He didn’t have to wait long. Leo soon made an appearance, not noticing Nico standing by the door and heading straight for his stuff. To pack. Just like Nico had thought he would. He moved to block the door. Then he spoke.  


“God, Valdez, could you be any more predictable?” That made Leo jump.  


“I thought you were—”  


“Like I said, predictable.” Nico said smugly. Leo looked mortified. Soon other emotions joined the horror. Nico felt a lot of the same things, but he didn’t move away from the door. “Look, you can’t run away from this.”  


“Watch me,” Leo retorted, then his face fell from defiance to… guilt? “I’m sorry…” he offered lamely. No doubt realizing what a dick move he’d pulled last night.  


“Whatever. Forget it. I don’t care.” Oh but he did, and he worried that Leo could see just how much. “The point is you can’t run away from our room. You live here too, and it’s dumb for you to not, well, live in it.” Nico finished, but Leo didn’t respond. He shuffled around awkwardly. Nico wasn’t sure whether or not he was surprised at Leo’s lack of sarcastic or crude response. Maybe he didn’t feel it appropriate to joke about Nico being in love with him know that he knew it was the truth. Nico also couldn’t decide if that irritated. So he went ahead and said what yesterday’s Leo might have. “I won’t jump you while you sleep, I promise.” Nico was pleased that he hardly blushed at all but managed to make Leo squirm. Good. The asshole deserved to feel uncomfortable. “And you can sleep in the bathroom with the door locked if you’d really like. But people will start wondering what happened if you keep sleeping in Piper’s room.”  


“I didn’t think you’d—! I mean I wasn’t avoiding you because of you, uh, being, well…” Leo looked like he wanted to say more but didn’t know how. Nico didn’t even let him try.  


“Whatever. Like I wouldn’t do the same thing in your situation. All I’m saying is it’s a dumb thing to do. Go to the administration about switching rooms, but don’t rely too much on your roommate pact before then.” And Nico left. Either Leo would listen or he wouldn’t. It didn’t matter all that much to Nico right then. He was upset. He was really upset. He always fell back on ‘whatever’ when he was mad or hurt but wanted to pretend like he wasn’t. It had the added effect of letting the person you were talking with know that you weren’t happy. Usually it was an added effect, but Nico wished he’d been able to keep himself from saying it. Because he didn’t want Leo to know he was upset.  


Nico had meant to go to the library. It’s where he always went. No matter where he was, a library was the place he’d go to hide. But he found himself at Hazel’s door instead. He didn’t knock. He was contemplating leaving— he didn’t want Hazel to see him upset either. To see him weak and near tears and —  


“Nico!” Hazel’s surprised squeak pulled Nico out of is thoughts. “Nico?” She asked, softly now. Obviously he looked about as put together as he’d thought. “Are you…okay?” She asked gently, Nico shook his head and was angry at himself for being so pathetic. But Hazel didn’t seem to mind, she pulled him into her room and as soon as the door shut, wrapped him in a hug. He reciprocated gratefully. 

~~~oOo~~~

“Want to tell me about it?” Hazel asked later as they sat on her bed. Nico shook his head.  


“No. Sorry. I just… I don’t’ want to talk about it right now. Maybe in like ten years I will, but even that’s unlikely.”  


“I understand. But, I mean, is it something serious? Are you okay? Did something happen with your family, or—?”  


“No. No, it’s nothing huge. It’s dumb, really. I’ll be fine.”  


“I’ve never seen you this shaken, so don’t even try to tell me it’s dumb, because I know it’s not. You know you can tell me anything, right? If you don’t want to, I get that. But you know you can, don’t you?”  


“Of course I do.”  


“Well alright then. Let’s go get something to eat. I happen to know they have great hot chocolate in the teacher’s lounge. And the vending machines are full of the good stuff, none of the cereal bar crap we have in ours.”  


“Sounds great, but we aren’t teachers.”  


“Did you forget about my step-dad? He gave me a key for emergencies.” She pulled keychain from her pocket. Four keys. Nico guessed they were to her room, as well as Piper’s and Leo’s…his too, actually. And, of course, the teacher’s lounge. Nico smiled. Leave it to Hazel to cheer him up.  


His problems didn’t leave him alone for long, though. On their way to the promised snacks, they ran into none other than Calypso. Nico felt his stomach twist. He felt guilty for last night, but he couldn’t help the anger and jealousy that bubbled up inside him along with the guilt. What was so great about her anyway?  


“Oh, hi Calypso,” Hazel said brightly. “Why’re you wandering the hall’s alone so late?”  


“Hazel,” Calypso smiled in way of greeting. “I was simply thinking. Needed some space, if you know what I mean.”  


“Anything we can help with?”  


“I don’t think so.” And with that, she left.  


“Is she always like that?” Nico asked Hazel when Calypso was out of earshot. He didn’t spend much time with her, so he didn’t know if she was acting normal.  


“Yeah, pretty much.” Hazel shrugged. Nico almost snorted. She was Leo’s type? Then again, Leo’s type seemed to be pretty girls. That thought dampened Nico’s mood more than seeing Calypso had. But as they continued on their way he couldn’t help but wonder what Calypso had been thinking about.  


What if she knew something about last night? Suspected, even? Nico almost shivered at the thought. That was the last thing he needed.


	19. In Which Nico and Leo are Close

DISCLAIMER: If you’ve been paying attention at all you’d know that I don’t own Percy Jackson. 

~~~oOo~~~  


Leo had listened. At least, he was asleep in their room when Nico returned late that night. That was something. It was best that their friends didn’t catch on to the fact that something was up. Nico didn’t want to deal with that. As he climbed into bed he wondered if Leo had already gone to the office and filed a request for a new roommate. He tried to convince himself he didn’t care as he fell asleep.  


Leo was gone by the time Nico woke up. That was no surprise. He pulled himself out of bed and spent the rest of the day hyperaware of Leo’s attempts to avoid him. Too bad Calypso had finally decided the rest of them were worth her time and was sitting with them more often than not.  


By dinner, most people had caught on to his bad mood. A couple of them had managed to connect it to Leo. And that’s how Nico ended up going to room 302 for another club meeting. It occurred to him that Hazel had asked Frank to cheer him up, but Nico found he didn’t care. It was better than going back to an empty room.  


“Mythomagic?” Frank asked when they got to their club house…room. Whatever.  


“You sure you want to do that? I kicked your ass last time.” Nico joked half heartedly.  


“Don’t be rude.” Frank mock scolded as he grabbed the game from its shelf.  


“But I’m so good at it.”  


“Oh, before I forget, we can’t stay too late tonight. Bob said he needs to come through.”  


“Bob?”  


“Yeah, Bob. The janitor.”  


“Can’t he clean around us?”  


“He could, but he likes to ask invasive questions.”  


“My favorite kind.”  


“Speaking of which, what’s up with you and Leo? Hadn’t you guys just made up?”  


“I guess we’re pretty shitty at being friends. But it doesn’t really matter.”  


“At least Percy has dropped all the shipping stuff.”  


“Oh god, I’d forgotten about that.”  


“Lucky you. He was much more persistent with me and Hazel.”  


They spent the rest of their meeting playing Mythomagic while Frank went over the schemes Percy had cooked up to make him date Hazel. It was a successful meeting, even though they didn’t talk about the person the club was named for after Frank’s first question. Especially because they didn’t talk about him. They laughed and told stories and parted ways without so much as a mention of Leo.  


The rest of the week was passed similarly. Hazel and Piper even joined them for a Leo Valdez is a Little Shit club meeting and he and Frank tried to teach them how to play Mythomagic. It didn’t work too well, but it was fun. By the time the weekend rolled around, Nico realized that he’d started to avoid Leo just as much as the boy had been avoiding him. In fact, now that he thought about it, Leo had looked like he wanted to say something to him once or twice. That made him curious about what Leo wanted. Then it occurred to him that Leo probably wanted to talk about switching rooms. So Nico continued on ignoring him — deliberately now. Because, even though he’d been the one the suggest the room switch, it still stung to think about.  


Nico slipped into his room at midnight on Friday. Club had run late, and then he’d sunk into the library for a couple hours. Well, broke in, really. But what was the difference? He glanced over to make sure Leo had returned. He had. So Nico shrugged off his coat and pulled off his boots. He eyed Leo’s bed, figured the lump there wasn’t about to wake up, so he kicked off his pants and crawled under the covers. He was too tired to put on pajamas. He was about to regret that. Because he’d been wrong about the lump on Leo’s bed — it did wake up.  


“Who’s running away now?” Leo asked, flinging off his covers in a very dramatic manner. Nico might have laughed. If he was in any mood to deal with this.  


“I’m pretty sure that’d be both of us,” Nico said before shifting in his bed to face the wall.  


“I know. But I talked to Piper and—”  


“You talked to Piper?” Nico asked, somewhere between horrified and furious.  


“Well yeah. She’s my best friend. But don’t worry, I didn’t like, tell her details. It was a very thinly veiled hypothetical scenario in which you remained nameless. Anyway, she told me we needed to talk. You and me, not me and her.”  


“That’s all?”  


“Well, she did call me some hurtful names, but I guess I deserved that.” The fact the Leo was acting like his usual self towards him again made Nico more willing to engage in this conversation. Only slightly, but it was enough.  


“So what do you suggest we talk about?”  


“Well, first off, I’d appreciate it if you’d, you know, look at me.”  


“Too bad, because I’m having a grand time staring at this wall.”  


“Nico.”  


“Fine.” Nico rolled over. But Leo didn’t say anything. Instead, he fidgeted awkwardly on his own bed. “Well? Do you want to talk about how I like you? Or maybe you want to go over how you kissed me? Unfortunately, I don’t have much interest in either topic. I already know how that conversation will go. You’ll tell me that you’re sorry but you can’t return my feelings, then I’ll ask you why the fuck you thought kissing me was a good idea, and then you’ll say you don’t know how that happened. Or that you got overwhelmed in the moment. Or that you mistook me for your girlfriend in the dark. Or you felt sorry for me. Or that—”  


“Stop that! You don’t know at all what I’d say because you’ve been too busy coming up with my responses on your own instead of talking to me!”  


“I wasn’t aware that you were open to talking about it. Sure, it’s fun to talk about me liking you when I don’t, but this isn’t exactly a joke.”  


“I know. I’m sorry. I want to fix this.”  


“Well alright then.” Nico sat up, making sure his blanket came with him. He didn’t need any more humiliation added into the mix. Because, as it was, he was blushing steadily. “Why did you kiss me?”  


“I…I don’t know— Don’t interrupt me,” he was obviously aware that he’d said exactly what Nico had thought he would. “But it wasn’t… I mean… I knew I was kissing you when I did it. And I did it because I wanted to. I just don’t exactly know why I wanted to.”  


“Oh.” What else was there to say? But Nico couldn’t help the swell of emotion that overtook him at Leo’s words.  


“Yeah.”  


“Well?”  


“Well what?”  


“Aren’t you going to tell me not to get my hopes up?”  


“Are they?” Leo sounded surprised. Which surprised Nico, because obviously—  


“Yes. Yes, I can’t help but hope that you kissing me meant something.”  


“Oh.” Again with the surprise.  


“You do realize that I’m pretty much in love with you, right?”  


“I… uh… no. No, I guess I didn’t.”  


“Did you miss something? I mean, I thought it was pretty clear that I liked you. Hell, you knew before I did. And then you told me. So how did you manage to miss the fact that I like you?”  


“I thought maybe you wouldn’t,” Leo mumbled. “After you knew that it was me.”  


“Well, you were wrong. I like you. And you kissed me. And now you’re telling me that you did it because you wanted to. So tell me, what am I supposed to think?”  


“I’m sorry…I mean, I don’t. I don’t know. But it did mean something. Me kissing you.”  


“You have a girlfriend, Leo. Please stop making me feel like there could ever be anything between us.”  


“I’m breaking up with her.”  


“What?” Nico’s voice was louder than he’d meant it to be, and his shock was obvious.  


“I’m breaking up with Calypso.”  


“I heard you — why? You like her. Like, a lot. You shouldn’t break up with her because of me. Because of whatever happened the other night.”  


“I’m not breaking up with her because of you. Not only because of you. I owe it to her. How shitty would it be to date someone who doesn’t know if they even like you anymore? I just. Ugh!” Leo ran his hands down his face. “I liked her a lot, at first. But we’ve been drifting apart for a while.”  


“Doesn’t look that way.” Nico commented.  


“It just doesn’t feel right being with her anymore. It’s like both our minds are in different places. It was gonna happen eventually. The other night just sped up my decision to finally do it.”  


“Oh.” How was he supposed to respond to that? Leo wasn’t saying the he liked him. Wasn’t promising anything. But it still felt a little like a confession. Nico felt hot and dizzy at the thought. Then a different thought struck him. “Why’d you run off the night before the roof?”  


“I saw you with that statue for the game thingy you liked.”  


“Mythomagic. And why did that make you run?”  


“It made me think that maybe you were this kid I used to know. I’d talked myself out of it by the next day. ‘Course, then I found out you really were that kid.”  


“Okay… and why did that make you run? It’s not like you were in love with me.”  


“Yeah but…Well I like to block my past from my mind, you know? Before my mom… Anyway, I may not have been in love with you but there were for sure some strong feelings there. Not to mention it was such an odd thing to think, you know? That you were that same happy, geeky kid. And…and I’d been…ugh. I can’t. Sorry, I just can’t fucking say that.”  


“Say what?”  


“I just said I can’t say it!”  


“Well now you have to say it!”  


“I can’t!” And the Leo was up and pacing, as was usual for him when he got stressed.  


“But I want to know!” Nico protested, standing up as well.  


“Too bad…Oh. My. God.” Leo had stopped pacing and was staring at Nico. Nico suddenly remembered why he’d been under his blanket. “Tell me you are not wearing skull boxers. That’s so… oh my god.” And then started the laughing. And the blushing— okay, true, Nico hadn’t really stopped blushing but now it was getting out of hand.  


“Shut up. Like you’re one to talk— you have flame boxers!”  


“How would you know?”  


“We share a room and you’re not exactly a clean freak.”  


“Okay, fine. But skulls? Dude, that is the most cliched thing you could possibly wear.”  


“Because flames are so much better!” But he was laughing too.  


“Yes, actually…” They were standing so close now. Inches apart. How had that happened? Smiles lingered on both their faces, but all laughter was gone. And then Leo was grabbing Nico again, pulling him in. And Nico had handfuls of Leo’s shirt. And they were so close…  


“No,” Nico whispered, ducking his head. “I can’t, Leo. You— you’re dating Calypso and I can’t… do this.” He continued into Leo’s shoulder.  


“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.” Leo agreed softly. And as they untangled themselves from each other, Nico’s stomach twisted. In guilt for what had almost happened. In relief that he’d stopped it. But mostly in regret, in longing for what he’d stopped.


	20. In Which Leo is a Drama Queen

DISCLAIMER: In no way do I own Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson owns me. 

~~~OOo~~~

It was a miracle that Nico had managed to sleep at all, really. His heart kept beating too loudly and his mind kept wandering to the boy in the bed not far from his own. A boy that had kissed him. Expressed some sort of interest in him. Yes, it was a miracle that he’d drifted off to sleep. But come morning, Nico wondered if he’d dreamt the whole thing; last night’s events seemed increasingly impossible as he woke up.

Leo was showering, and Nico didn’t feel like waiting around to use the bathroom, so he pulled on clothes and left the room. He was the first to arrive at their table in the cafeteria for a change, and slowly the seats started filling in. Nico composed himself and vowed not to act stupid or turn red when Leo joined them. It went pretty well, considering. There was some awkward eye contact and some fidgeting, but other than that, things went smoothly. Well, if you didn’t count Calypso and Leo’s almost cold treatment of each other. Apparently though, everyone at their table did count that.

“Anyone know what’s up with them?” Percy asked as the couple left the room.

“They don’t seem to be very…lovey anymore, do they?” Hazel asked. “They were super affectionate and all about PDA when they first started going out. Wonder when that changed.”

“Hmm,” Piper looked thoughtful. Nico remembered Leo mentioning he’d talked with her. Obviously she had a little more insight on Leo and Calypso’s relationship than the rest of them. Well, except for Nico, of course. But she didn’t know that. Either way, she didn’t speak up about what she knew and/or guessed. But Nico suspected she was wondering the same thing he was; when will Leo break it off with Calypso? 

That same question haunted Nico all day— he couldn’t concentrate at all, and every time he saw either Leo or Calypso he couldn’t help but inspect their faces for signs about the state of their relationship. All day his stomach was twisted in guilt or fluttering in excitement. All day he had to remind himself that Leo breaking up with Calypso didn’t really mean anything. Didn’t mean Leo returned his feelings. Didn’t mean that they’d start dating. Didn’t mean anything. But still he waited and watched and anticipated. 

He’d expected it to happen within the week; a small and quiet break up executed in private. He should have known better. Leo didn’t do small. Or quiet. No, he was a drama queen, so really it shouldn’t have been a surprise when Nico entered the cafeteria to find Calypso standing on a chair and engaged in a shouting match with Leo. Leo himself was on the table. 

“I should have known better than to get involved with you!” The red-faced but still pretty girl shot at Leo.

“Then why did you, sweetheart?” 

“I felt sorry for you, you pathetic boy!”

“You’re such a fucking liar! And that’s why I can’t stand you! Your personality literally changes all the time. I don’t have a goddamned clue who you even are!”

“At least I’m not a bumbling idiot who ruined the only shot at love he’s got!”

“Hey, don’t pin this on me. You’re just as much at fault as I am— you stopped caring about me or this relationship ages ago. I’m not the only one that ruined this! And like you’re the only person that could ever like me!” Leo said defensively, but Nico could see worry in his face. 

“Aren’t I? Too bad not even I could deal with you for long.” Calypso spat at the boy on the table. Leo noticeably winced at her words. Nico almost snorted; Leo knew that there was at least one person that liked him but he still thought he’d be the seventh wheel forever. Actually, maybe Nico had snorted— out loud. Because Leo’s eyes found him.   
“Because you’re so great at getting dates. Remind me again, how many boys talked to you before me? Oh, that’s right! One. And he turned you down!” Leo smirked, but it was short lived; a glob of spaghetti hit him square in the face. Calypso climbed up onto the table with Leo, scooping up more food as she went. This time Leo dodged, grabbing his own missiles and flinging noodles and celery at his ex-girlfriend. Predictably, this lead to a full blown food fight— they weren’t rare at this school. Nico slunk out of the cafeteria, trying to avoid getting food on his jacket. He settled on a bench outside the designated eating areas, and soon a good number of his friends joined him.

“Can you believe that?” Hazel asked the group in general. “I mean, I know they were going through a rough spot, but they seemed really happy together before that…”

“It had to happen.” Piper shrugged. “They may have been happy together at the start, but they obviously haven’t been lately.”

“I guess so. I just don’t understand how a relationship can change that quickly. What could have happened?”

“Hmm,” Piper said again, indicating that she had a clue as to what had happened. Luckily, no one was paying attention to Nico or he was sure they’d be able to see the guilt roll off of him. 

~~~oOo~~~  
They gathered on the roof that night, and for once Leo wasn’t a seventh wheel. Rather, he was the center of attention. 

“I can’t believe you!” Piper was laughing, shoving Leo playfully. “Who thinks oh I’m going to stand on a god damn table to break up with my girlfriend? Who does that?”

“Leo, obviously,” Jason said with amusement and a bit of awe. 

“Wait,” Nico cut in, turning to Leo with incredulity. “You mean you got on the table before saying anything? Like, it didn’t just escalate to that?”

“Not even” Percy answered. “He climbs on to the table, right? He’s all calm and composed and he kinda clears his throat, like he has something really important to say.”

“And then,” Jason cut in. “Then this asshole takes Calypso’s hand and helps her on to the seat. And now I’m thinking that he’s going to propose or something. I guess Calypso was thinking the same thing—.” 

“She just looks at him for a moment and then says ‘Leo, I don’t hate you, but I’d rather live in a toilet than marry you, so don’t even bother,’ and we’re all just watching, like shit, that’s gotta hurt,” Percy stole back the retelling. “At this point we’re all sure he’s been dumped, but then he goes ‘Oh hell no,’ and launches into this speech about how their love was like a flame— it was very poetic, you should’ve been there.”

“And then they just started ripping into each other.” Jason finished. Nico stared at Leo in shock. 

“Remind me never to date you,” Nico said without thinking. The others laughed, but Nico realized how stupid a thing to say that was. Because his goal was to date Leo, wasn’t it? He felt his ears going red and was glad for his mess of hair for hiding them.

“I’ll have you know that I’m a fucking delight to date.” Leo grinned back at him and Nico glared. He knew he’d gotten himself into this, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

“Until you decide to dump your girlfriend.” Nico pointed out. 

“The key, my boy, is to not get dumped.” Leo winked at him. Nico rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help the queasy feeling that had settled in. After all, there was truth to his words— dating someone who would break up with you publicly? It just didn’t sit well with Nico.  
~~~oOo~~~

“What’s up with you?” Leo asked the next morning. It was Saturday, so afternoon was more accurate, really. Nico had woken up at about eleven and hadn’t ventured outside his room since. He’d stocked up on food from the vending machine in the teacher’s lounge, so going out for lunch was unnecessary. But Leo had returned to their shared dorm and had obviously noticed Nico’s wariness of him.

“Nothing,” Nico said, not bothering to look up from his book.

“No, not nothing. You’re doing that thing you used to do.”

“What thing?”

“That I’m only going to pay half attention to you because you are beneath me and I’m reading thing.”

“Oh.” 

“So what’s up with you?” Leo asked again. Nico wasn’t sure how to respond, so he fell back on old habits. He just ignored the question. Leo huffed over to him and yanked Jurassic Park out of his hands. “You’ve been acting weird since last night. Did I do something?” Leo asked him seriously, concern creeping into his features. 

“Not really,” Nico sighed, readjusting on his bed slightly. Leo stared at him a moment, then seemed to lose patience. 

“Something happened. And if you won’t tell me what, then I can’t help but come to my own conclusions.” He looked angry now. “Is it because I broke up with Calypso?” He asked fiercely. He seemed to see the answer in Nico’s face. “It is, isn’t it? What, do you only like guys if they’re taken?” 

“What— no!” Nico protested immediately, cutting Leo off before he could continue. “Don’t be stupid.” 

“So what is it, then?” Leo demanded, and Nico realized that the boy looked as hurt as he did angry.

“You really liked Calypso. You really, really did. I saw the way you looked at her, and the way you talked about her, and I could always tell when you were thinking about her because you got this stupid look on your face—.”

“But I don’t like her anymore, that’s why we broke up.”

“I know! And that’s what’s bothering me! You— you’re a drama queen. You like being overdramatic and that’s fine, but what’s not fine is being an asshole and publicly humiliating someone you used to care about.” Nico started out with fire but was speaking quietly by the time he’d finished. Leo just stared at him.

“I didn’t…” his brows were knit together, as if he were trying to figure out what Nico was talking about.

“At least you didn’t do it on purpose, I guess.” Nico said, looking at Leo carefully. “But making a spectacle of your break up was a dick move, Leo. You can’t dump your girlfriend on stage, with the whole school watching. That’s just cruel.” It would have been one thing if he’d meant it to be small and it had escalated, but as it was…

“Oh! No— you’ve got it wrong, I didn’t mean to dump her on the table. And anyway, she beat me to the punchline.” Leo said, a relieved smile overtaking his face as he dropped onto Nico’s bed.

“I don’t understand.”

“I wanted to do one last hurrah with her, you know?”

“Uhh. No, I don’t know.”

“Well, see, she’s leaving school. We talked yesterday and she told me that she’s going to that girl’s school Thalia’s at. Anyway, I wanted to start a food fight to commemorate our time together— and just to show her what fun she’d be missing out on. I had a whole speech planned and everything. Guess I should’ve warned her,” Leo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Anyway she pretty much told me that we weren’t going anywhere— and duh, I already knew that— but I guess I got defensive. I hadn’t meant to do it that way.”

“Oh.” Nico said, a weight seeming to lift from his shoulders.

“Yeah.” Leo smiled, and Nico realized that he was smiling too.

“In that case, there’s no need to remind me never to date you.” Nico said quietly, surprised at himself for saying it at all. Leo seemed just as startled by that as he was, staring at Nico like he’d just proposed.

“Are you flirting with me?” Leo asked, amusement as prominent as surprise in his tone. 

“No,” Nico replied too hastily, just making Leo’s smile grow. So Nico shoved Leo off his bed and watched the boy topple to the floor with a glare. 

“Oh my god, you’re embarrassed!” Leo said with glee. Nico really regretted saying anything now. Why was it that he could pretty much confess to Leo on a regular basis without getting too embarrassed and yet saying one stupid sentence made him want to hide in a cave and never come out? Unfortunately, there weren’t any caves around, but Nico had the next best thing: a book. He picked up Jurassic Park and buried his face in it, pointedly ignoring the grinning boy on the floor. “You know,” Leo went on, ignoring the fact that Nico was ignoring him. “You’re not going to woo me by being cold.”

“Is that what I’m doing?” Nico asked, raising to the bait. “Wooing you?”

“No shit, Sherlock.” Leo said, rolling his eyes. This time Nico put his book down willingly. 

“Huh. Then if you want me to woo you, do you want me to succeed?” Nico asked curiously. Leo looked flustered at that, but after a moment he just shrugged. Nico stared at Leo, wide eyed. “Fuck.” He finally muttered. 

“What?” Leo asked.

“Now you’ve really gotten my hopes up.” And there was no going back now.


	21. In Which Percy is a Good Friend

DISCLAIMER: Percy Jackson ≠ mine. 

~~~oOo~~~  
Nico hadn’t the faintest idea how to go about wooing Leo Valdez. First off, there was the fact that Nico himself had never attempted flirting before; he’d never had any interest in a relationship before this and was completely unprepared to deal with one, nonetheless initiate one. Then there was Leo. The boy was beyond impossible to simply be around, and trying to flirt with him was a daunting idea indeed. Nico had spend much of the night pondering how to go about the whole ordeal. He’d decided several times to just not. But then he’d remember Leo’s flustered shrug when Nico had asked him if he wanted to be wooed last night. In the end, he at least had to try.  


And so, Nico debated with himself the entire way to breakfast whether or not to ask Hazel for advice. The main problem with telling her, of course, would be having to tell her who he liked. Oh, he could go in with thinly veiled hypothetical scenarios in which his crush remained nameless, but Hazel wouldn’t buy it. She’d push until he told her. In fact she could easily just guess. It wouldn’t take long to go through and ask “Is it…?” for every person he talked to. And when Leo’s name came up, even as a joke, he knew his face would betray him. So it was all or nothing. He arrived at the table to see Frank and Hazel laughing together and, as he sat down, Nico decided he couldn’t tell her. It was just too embarrassing. For one thing, she was his little sister and it was pathetic that she had more dating experience than him, even if he’d actively avoided all things romance— or people— for the last four years. And then having to tell her that he liked Leo…he just couldn’t. Not after all the fuss he’d put up about how annoying Leo is.  


It occurred to him that if he was too embarrassed to tell Hazel about his crush on Leo, he’d have a hard time letting anyone else know either. Which meant that flirting with Leo would be even harder. Nico sighed as his roommate dropped into the seat across from him, flashing Nico a smile that seemed to say I know how difficult I’m making life for you, and I couldn’t be happier about it.  


“Asshole,” Nico sneered at Leo, almost out of reflex. Leo just smiled and blew Nico a kiss, which made Nico duck his head in an attempt to hide his discomposure. He kept his face directed at his food until the bell rang for first period, but he didn’t miss Percy’s eyes darting curiously from him to Leo. So it came as no surprise when Percy snagged his elbow in the hallway as Nico journeyed to English.  


“Hey, man,” Percy said nonchalantly.  


“Are you here to ask me about Leo?” Nico cut right to the chase, knowing that Percy wouldn’t let him get to class before he’d gotten the talk he wanted. Percy shrugged a shoulder. “Well? Go on. Ask me.”  


“It’s just that I couldn’t help but notice that there’s something happening between you two…”  


“And you think it’s a blossoming romance?” Nico kept his tone neutral but, inside his pocket, his right hand was tightly holding the statue from Bianca (a new nervous habit he’d picked up). It was the first time Percy has cornered him to convince him of his feelings for Leo since Nico had figured out that said feelings were, well, real. And it was unnerving. Because Percy had seen right through him, and probably could now, too. And then Nico would have to admit Percy had been right, and how dumb would that be? Admitting that Nico himself hadn’t been the first one to realize his feelings? That, despite all Nico’s protests and denials, Percy had been completely right all along (well, maybe not from the very start, but still, for far longer than Nico liked to admit).  


“I think it could be.” Percy shrugged again. “But actually I just wanted to make sure that everything’s okay with you.”  


“What?” Nico stared blankly at the taller boy. “Why wouldn’t things be ‘okay with me?’”  


“You’ve been acting weird lately. Leo has too, a little, which is why I wondered if it had something to do with him. But there was that whole thing with turning up at my room in the middle of the night to talk to Jason— and he still won’t tell me what that was about— then you and Leo have been bouncing between avoiding each other and being chummy and it’s…not normal. So something’s up with you. And, yeah, maybe I think it’s got something to do with Leo.” Percy paused, gauging Nico’s reaction. Nico didn’t deny Percy’s claim, but he didn’t offer any more explanation either. Percy took a deep breath, then dove into speech again. “Look, I know I’ve been immature and all with wanting you and Leo to date. I can’t help it— my mind latches on to things and next thing you know I’m obsessed. But it’s immature despite that and I know it’s made you uncomfortable so I’ve tried really hard not to push the topic, you know? But…you and Leo are obviously going through some things, and Leo runs for the hills when I try to talk to him about it. I guess I’m just worried that I’ve read things wrong and you and Leo aren’t madly in love with each other,” Nico snorted at this, and Percy’s small grin suggested that he hadn’t believed they were ‘madly I love’ per se. “It could be that Leo’s a shit-head and has pushed things too far and done something to actually upset you, but then you patch it up, and then he fucks it up again. I guess what I’m trying to say is that— well, actually let me start with this: Leo’s a great guy. He’s one of my best buds, but I realize he’s difficult to handle sometimes. So if he’s making you uncomfortable or anything, I’d be happy to trade rooms with you or anything.”  


“Wait,” Nico and Percy were now the only people in the hall. “Let me get this straight. You’ve spend months trying to convince me I love Leo, and now you’re telling me you think he upset me and I should move out of our room?”  


“What I’m saying is it’s hard to get away from people sometimes; you think that everything’s fine because you keep making up, and they’re a part of your friend group so you don’t think you have any right to get away from them, but sometimes…they’re bad for you and you need to get away. I want to make sure that you know you can get away. You know, if you need to.”  


“I don’t even know how to respond to that, Percy.”  


“I just don’t like unhealthy relationships— of any kind.” Percy’s serious countenance finally broke into something more vulnerable. “When I was young, like ten, my mom married this awful guy. At first I tried to ignore his awfulness because he was my step-dad and I owed him respect or something, I guess. I thought that things would work out. But they just got worse, and my mom and I couldn’t get out by the time things had gotten super bad. We were trapped by him, and by ourselves too. He was a bad man all around, abusive in every sense of the word. And I know that whatever is happening with you and Leo, it’s not to that extent, and I know that Leo doesn’t really mean any harm, but I don’t want you to feel trapped, like I used to. I thought I’d check. Just in case.”  


Nico stared at Percy, dumbfounded. He remembered Leo mentioning something about Percy putting his step-dad in a coma…but it was hard to imagine such an amiable and kind guy doing something like. Being driven to do something like that. Nico realized for the umpteenth time that everyone at this school was fucked up. Finally, he brought his gaze to meet Percy’s, and he shook his head softly. “No. It’s not like that at all. But… Thank you. For making sure. It means a lot. But Leo and I… we’re fine. I like him a lot, really.” Nico finished in almost a whisper, but, if Percy’s wide eyes and growing smile were any indication, he’d been loud enough. Nico didn’t stick around to hear the questions he was sure were about to pour from Percy’s mouth. As he hurried down the empty corridor to class, Nico looked over his shoulder at the baffled boy he’d left. “You’re a good friend, Percy.”  


He was twenty minutes late to English.  


~~~OOo~~~  


Nico had a hard time concentrating all through classes; his mind was too full with Percy’s speech, Leo’s blown kiss, and especially the knowledge that, although people confused and annoyed him, despite the fact that he had no idea how to deal with them and often wanted to be alone, he liked them and liked to spend time with them. Really, life had been much simpler when he’d been a grumpy recluse.  


“Alright, what gives?” Hazel hissed half way through geography. “You’ve sighed like fifty times today.”  


“I have not,” Nico protested weakly.  


“I know Percy cornered you after breakfast, is that what the sighing is about? More shippy stuff?”  


“Huh? Oh, no not really.”  


“Okay, then what?”  


“Something dumb, don’t worry.”  


“Alright, I’m not worrying. But worry was only half the reason I asked you.”  


“The other half?”  


“I’m curious. So what’s gotten you in a mood?”  


“People.” Nico answered simply, and was met with an exasperated sigh from his sister.  


“Other than people. You’re always upset about that and you don’t usually sigh this much.”  


“Percy asked me if I wanted to switch rooms with him.” Nico said, trying to distract Hazel from her line of questioning— mostly because he didn’t know how to answer her questions without wanting to hide in shame for the next ten years. Luckily for him, it worked.  


“What? Why?” Hazel asked in astonishment.  


“I dunno. I mean, because Leo and I don’t always get along, I guess.” How did you tell someone that your friend thought you might be in an unhealthy, even harmful, relationship (with the person you happen to like)?  


“Wow. Well, that was nice of him. Would he bunk with Leo and you move in with Jason?”  


“I didn’t ask. Is that even allowed? Switching rooms like that?”  


“No, but who cares? Some students here blow stuff up all the time, so they let little things like switching rooms slide. Like, they put up with the little things or it’ll build up into a student rebellion.”  


“Not that it would take much to make this lot rebel,” Nico observed.  


“Exactly. So?”  


“So… what?”  


“So, are you going to switch rooms?”  


“No, if course not,” he answered without pause.  


“Really?” Hazel seemed surprised by his quick response.  


“Yeah…? Why would I switch rooms?”  


“You said it yourself— you and Leo don’t always get along. Actually, sometimes I think you hate him; you’ve certainly told me as much before. Why wouldn’t you hop on the chance to get away from Leo?”  


“I don’t hate Leo. I know why you’d think I do…but I don’t. Things aren’t bad between us right now.”  


“Yeah, but your relationship seems to be all over the place. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes you guys avoid each other like the plague and sometimes you start prank wars or shouting matches. It might be good now but that’s no guarantee it’ll all stay good. I’m not trying to convince you to move out, it’s just that, well, a couple months ago you would have happily swapped roommates with anyone to get away from Leo.”  


“I can’t deny that. But that was before I got to know Leo. He’s annoying as all hell, but he’s not bad, really. I think we might actually be friends.”  


“But just two days ago you two were upset at each other!” Hazel pointed out, and Nico realized that his and Leo’s drama hadn’t gone unnoticed by the gang.  


“Well, Leo was being dumb. But that’s out of the way now.”  


“Leo being dumb is never out of the way.”  


“True,” Nico grinned. “But I really think we’re okay now…” he trailed off, realizing that, if he wasn’t able to woo Leo things would be weird. Hell, if he was able to woo Leo, sharing a room could get complicated. But dealing with either brand of weirdness seemed better than moving away from Leo. Honestly, he was so used to the boy and his stupid antics that it would be lonely without him.  


“I’m starting to think Percy’s right,” Hazel said after watching Nico for a long moment.  


“What?” Nico stared at her. Now she thought he and Leo were in an unhealthy relationship? How’d she even find out about that—?  


“It almost does seem like you’re in love with Leo.”  


“Oh,” said Nico, “that.”  


Hazel just raised her eyebrows at him before turning back to her textbook.  


~~~OOo~~~  


“Leo, hurry up. We’ve got to go.” Nico hovered over Leo impatiently, rushing him to finish dinner.  


“I know you’re new to the world of romance, but it is customary to bring flowers or at least be pleasant when asking someone out,” Leo teased. Nico narrowed his eyes. Problem 2,978 with wooing Leo: the bastard treated everything as a joke, especially when out in public. The other occupants of the table laughed at Leo’s dumb comment.  


“Fine, stay here. I have no problem leaving you. But if you want into our room you’d better speed the fuck up. I want to go to the library and I won’t be headed back to the room until late,” Nico warned.  


“Why don’t you just lend me your key?” Leo whined.  


“Because, my dear idiot, in the time I’ve known you you have fed a room key to a turtle, melted one, flushed one down the toilet, filed all the grooves away from one, rendering it useless, chucked one from the roof of the school for shits and giggles, and hidden at least two in Frank’s sandwiches. And god knows how you lost your most recent one. No way am I risking my only key’s safety.”  


“That’s so unfair! Either I’m locked out of our room all evening or I’m locked in!” Leo huffed, but Nico could tell he was putting on a show for…well, just for the drama of it. Leo had a habit of blowing things out of proportions just to make a scene.  


“Should have thought of that before losing your key.”  


“I didn’t lose it.”  


“Then use it.”  


“I can’t.”  


“Fine, let me revise my earlier statement: you should have thought of that before ruining your key.”  


“C’mon, can’t you just study or whatever in our room?”  


“Can’t you just deal with the consequences of your actions like a big boy?”  


“You’re not being very nice to me.”  


“Well spotted.”  


“And here I thought you loved me,” Leo said with an ostentatious flourish. Nico could practically feel Percy’s eyes flashing between them, his mind forming questions and assumptions about their relationship. Nico gritted his teeth; he wouldn’t put up with Leo humiliating him in front of their friends, even if that wasn’t his inanition. So Nico left. Just walked away and left Leo sitting like he’d threatened he would.  


He didn’t get far before hearing the pounds of running feet behind him. Nico didn’t turn or slow down, but in a moment Leo was next to him, backpack haphazardly thrown over his shoulder and something akin to panic in his eyes. That gave Nico pause— why did Leo look so freaked upset?  


“I’msorry,” Leo rushed to say, syllables all blurring together in a quick burst.  


“Good.” Nico was determined to leave it at that, to be cold and unforgiving. At least for a little while. He used to be a great grudge holder, but with Leo he couldn’t seem to hold one for long. He couldn’t help but analyze Leo’s seeming panic at upsetting him. At least he realizes he’s done something wrong…  


“I fucked up, I know. That was totally over the line and a complete asshole move, and…” Leo tugged a hand through his hair, then he looked at Nico and, with new determination, grabbed both his shoulders, forcing both boys to halt and face each other. “I’m bad at all this. I just… I’m freaked, honestly, okay? People don’t like me, not like…like this. I fucked up my relationship with Calypso, and now I’m fucking up things with you before they even have a chance to go somewhere. I don’t mean to make fun of you, really. I don’t even mean to say half of the things I do— they just pop into my head and all the sudden I’m saying them!” Leo sounded sincere, like he meant it. But Nico’s mind was focused on one thing:…I’m fucking up things with you before they even have a chance to go somewhere… What did Leo mean by that? Things with you…go somewhere… did Leo think things with Nico would ‘go somewhere?’ Was it another hint that Nico’s crush wasn’t completely hopeless?  


“I know you don’t mean to upset me,” and there he went again, forgiving Leo right away. “But you can’t pretend like every gesture and comment you make that refers back to me liking you is on accident.”  


“But they are!” Leo protested immediately.  


“Really? Every single one of them?”  


“Well…not all of them, I guess.” Leo shrugged, regaining most his usual care-free attitude. “But old habits die hard, and it’s fun to harass you.” Then he added a last minute “Sorry.”  


“You know what I think? I think that you keep making jokes because…” it occurred to Nico just then that he did know why Leo made fun of him. Leo’d said it himself— he was freaked out by all this. Sarcasm was a defense mechanism. It made him feel like he was in control. Nico smiled; he had an idea.  


“What? What do you think? And why are you smiling? You’re freaking me out, man.”  


“You know what? Never mind about what I think. If this is how you want to play it, I’m game.” Nico knew how he was going to flirt with Leo, and retaliate against the boy’s embarrassing comments all at once.  


“Should I be worried? I’m worried.”  


“Good.”


	22. In Which Wooing Begins

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Percy Jackson. If I did, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction for it.

~~~oOo~~~

It almost reminded Nico of the Prank War, really. All the sneaking and plotting and planning. In fact, it was perfectly in the realm of possibilities that Leo would retaliate and Prank War II would be born. Or maybe Leo was the one who'd started the whole ordeal, and Nico was the one finally returning fire. Either way, they'd be on even footing again. Leo threw around jokes and sarcasm as a means to feel in control of something that no one could really be in control of: feelings. So Nico would use the same method to help him feel more in control too. A coward's way to woo, really; hiding true intentions behind jokes, but it suited the pair of them, Nico thought. No, jokes, wasn't quite the right word. More likely, the over extravagance and the ridiculous unlikelihood of it all would be interpreted as a joke by others. But Nico would know, and Leo would know. And wasn't that how their relationship worked? Even when they were surrounded by their friends, Nico was the one who saw Leo's mask— knew a little of what was happening behind it.

Nico stayed up late, putting his plan together: scribbling away on small slips of paper and rolling them tightly and setting them aside; routing the quickest way to an off campus grocery store by bus; collecting songs and burning them onto a CD; asking Leo questions— Do you have a tape player? Yes. Favorite fruit? Strawberries. Favorite color? Orange or blue. Favorite chocolate? Sea slated caramels. Milk or dark? Milk. Each question was answered with more skepticism than the last, and Leo kept shooting him suspicious looks. Nico just smiled back. He didn't mind that he was being obvious— it didn't really matter if Leo suspected or expected anything. Eventually, Leo fell asleep, and Nico went about putting his plot into action. Step One: hiding the scrolls of paper in Leo's backpack, textbooks, and especially tool belt. Step two: record songs from the CD onto a cassette tape, hide mixtape obviously in Leo's backpack. That's all that could be done without leaving school grounds, so Nico finally crawled into bed well after midnight and drifted off to sleep.

~~~oOo~~~

"Nico, hurry up! It's Waffle Wednesday! I want to get there early before all the waffles are gone," Leo hollered at Nico from the other side of the bathroom door. Nico smiled, he liked that Leo waited for him, that they often walked to breakfast together.

"Go on without me," Nico called back, only just getting out of the shower. "I have stuff to do, I'll catch up with you later."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Okay…I'll see you later, then."

Nico rushed to get dressed after Leo'd left. He'd have to be fast if he wanted to catch the bus to Smith's. And he did, just barely. He had exactly half an hour to shop before the bus back to school came, and if he missed that then he'd miss a good deal of Comp Tech. Luckily, he was an efficient shopper, and the store wasn't awful to navigate either. As he was checking out (unfortunately, there were no self-checkouts), the cashier looked at his assortment of groceries and smiled, "Pampering your girlfriend, huh?" Nico felt heat rising to his face, but he shrugged.

"I guess you could say that."

"Birthday? Anniversary?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Well, she's lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend," the lady commented as she handed him his bags. Nico, remembering his manners, gave her a smile and a "thanks" before ducking out of the store and speed walking to the bus stop.

He arrived back at school with time to spare, so he dropped off his burdens in his room, making sure to properly hide them so Leo wouldn't stumble upon them.

Nico didn't see Leo until lunch, and by the look on his face, Leo had found some of the gifts Nico'd left for him. He looked positively flustered. Nico grinned.

"How's you day been?" He asked pleasantly, reveling in the questioning looks the others were giving him and Leo, aware that something was going on, but clueless as to what.

"What're you playing at, Di Angelo?"

"Playing?" Nico said innocently. "There's no playing to it. I'm a very serious person, you know."

"Bullshit. You're up to— to something."

"Yeah, it's called wooing, Valdez," Nico said with an easy shrug. He was impressed with the affect it pulled off— Leo looked gobsmacked and the entire table stopped what they were doing to stare, slack jawed at them. And he wasn't even blushing. Nice couldn't be more pleased.

There was a long stretch of silence in which everyone aside from Nico tried to decide what he'd meant by that comment. It was broken by a loud "Ha!" from Percy, which got Piper laughing. And, as Nico had anticipated, everyone wrote it off as a joke and after having a laugh over it they moved on. But Leo knew that it wasn't a joke, or that it was, at least, not lacking in sincerity. Whenever Nico caught his eye, Leo glared and he smiled back.

~~~oOo~~~

"I can't believe you made me a fucking mix tape," Leo burst when Nico returned to their rooms after dinner. Leo himself had missed the meal, and Nico felt almost guilty: probably he'd skipped for fear of Nico saying or doing something over the top. But he'd make up for it tonight. Probably. If he was able to ask Leo his question.

"I don't remember specifying that it was only for setting the mood for sex, but it was late when I made it, so maybe I forgot."

"You know, I liked you better when you wouldn't talk to me. You were a lot less annoying then."

"Now you know how I feel about you."

"Can you stop it with the sass for like two seconds?"

"Why? Do you have something serious you need to discuss with me?"

"No, I just want you to shut up."

"I repeat, now you know how I feel." Nico stuck his tongue out at Leo, edging his way towards the closet. He'd hidden a key part to his plan in there…

"Oh, I see. This is revenge for yesterday."

"No, lunch was revenge for yesterday."

"The mix tape?"

"I made that in all seriousness." He needed to get it over with. But there wasn't a good way to turn the conversation where it needed to go— or if there was, it would take too long to get there and Nico would have lost his nerve by the time they got to the point.

"Sure you did," Leo snorted.

"Anyway, I was wondering if you'd like to join me on the roof tonight?" Nico knew the transition was awkward and the question rushed, but it was the best he could do without chickening out. Leo stared at him, eyes widening as he slowly processed the meaning behind Nico's word.

"You mean…like a date or…?"

"Yeah, I mean…" now his cheeks were coloring and his words were falling apart and he was losing his nerve already and craving the solace of retreat. But he pushed on, fumbling in the closet and emerging with a bundle of orange and blue, with some yellow and red mixed in. "I even got flowers this time?" He hated that his voice hitched up at the end, making it a question. He offered the mess of flowers to Leo, and, to his surprise, Leo actually reached out to take them. Nico kept his eyes locked on the other boy's boots.

"You got me flowers," Leo said it softly. It was a simple statement but it felt intimate and Leo seemed in awe of the flowers he now held. "Blue and orange, my favorite colors." Nico wanted to back up into the closet and refuse to come out. It had seemed so easy, back when it could all be laughed at or when Leo thought it was all revenge, or when their friends were there to make it less real. He hadn't expected it to be this hard, this mortifying. "That's actually…really sweet." Leo still sounded amazed. Nico shrugged. Was sweet what he'd been going for? He didn't know what he'd been going for. He'd just wanted Leo to say yes. "Fuck."

This got Nico's attention and made him look up to see what might have prompted Leo to swear. "What?" He demanded, searching Leo's face for clues, but Leo just stared back at him in wonder.

"Just, fuck, this's cute. You're cute."

"Don't call me cute, asshole," Nico snapped, nose wrinkling. Leo laughed and swatted Nico with his flowers.

"Then stop being cute, dumbass." He put his bouquet down on his bed gently and then headed for the door. "Well? What are you waiting for? I don't mean to brag, but I've got a cute date waiting for me on the roof and I don't have a key to lock the apartment, so hurry up. I don't want to be late." Leo seemed to be in his element again, impish grin firmly in place on his face. It took Nico three seconds to realize that Leo had agreed to go on a date with him. It took him two more to scramble to the door, and four to lock it behind them.


	23. In Which Leo Has a Cute Date

DISCLAIMER: I've said it 21 times before now, I don't own Percy Jackson.

~~~oOo~~~

As Nico took in Leo's reaction to his set up on the roof, it made him think that this was worth it. Making a fool of himself and being called sweet and cute— it was all worth it for the look on Leo's face as he scanned his surroundings. Nico had prepared it earlier, a dare to himself to ask Leo out. A king sized comforter that was almost more pillow than blanket was set out, along with an oil lantern, a picnic basket, and a telescope.

"You really thought this through, huh?" Leo asked, turning away from the spectacle to look at Nico.

"I like having a plan," Nico shrugged, but a smile tugged on his lips. Obviously, Leo was impressed.

"I am dangerously close to calling you adorable."

"If you do, you'll find yourself dangerously close to the edge of the roof."

"Harsh," Leo laughed and then settled down on the blanket. Nico was smiling in ernest now. It was good to be back to this. To being Leo-and-Nico. To bickering and joking. To the ease of being with someone who knew that there was something more beyond the grumpy or sarcastic exterior. To being able to be both grumpy and sarcastic together and not feel like they was putting on a show or trying to fool anyone.

"I didn't pack a full meal because I never thought Leo Valdez would miss Taco Night in a million years, but there are some snacks," Nico explained, coming to sit next to Leo, who was already pulling over the basket of food.

"Sometimes things happen and people miss Taco Night," Leo said defensively, forgetting the basket momentarily.

"Yeah? What sorts of things?"

"Stupid mix-tapes from cute boys. Those sorts of things."

"It's a long way to the ground from here," Nico reminded him.

"You threatened to push me off the edge if I called you adorable. And I haven't yet."

"Yet."

"Right, yet. And anyways, what makes you think it was your mix-tape that distracted me? I'll have you know that there are tons of cute boys making me mix-tapes." Leo's smile widened at the eye-roll Nico gave him. "But no need to worry, yours was the best. I put it on because I was curious and ended up listening through the whole thing and missing dinner."

"I thought…"

"I was trying to avoid another lunch scene? Nah, you know me. I like drama. You just caught me off guard with all your love notes and mix-tapes and such. Trust me, I was prepared for diner. But I missed it. Ah well, this is even better." Leo turned back to the basket and as he pulled out strawberries, sea salted caramel milk chocolates, Pringles, chocolate milk, and a cupcake with a flame patterned plastic ring on top, Nico's stomach flipped. Leo thought that this was even better than making a scene at Taco Night. That had to mean something.

"I guess I know what all your questions were about last night. How'd you know about the Pringles and chocolate milk, though?"

"I live with you, it's hard not to notice your snack habits. Especially since you eat so loudly."

Leo laughed but didn't retort, his eyes snagging instead on the last item in the basket.

"It made me think of you," Nico said, indicating the flame ring. "Dumb and tacky."

"You should've gotten yourself a skull one. Cliché and wanna-be tough."

"I've already got a skull ring."

"You're shitting me."

"You haven't noticed? I wear it a lot." Nico was amused by Leo's astounded expression.

"Your hands are always covered by your sleeves. Do you have any idea how little that jacket makes you look?" The way he said little made the word synonymous with cute.

"Shut up," Nico snapped, but Leo was smiling and soon Nico was smiling back.

"It's getting dark," Leo noted after several beats.

"Yeah. Yeah, let me, uh, get the lamp," Nico retrieved the lamp, but Leo took it before he could do anything more.

"I am the Master of Flames, as proven by my great and powerful fire ring. I get to light it on fire." Nico didn't protest as Leo lit the lamp and set it down again. They ate their snacks for a while after that, occasionally talking but mostly sitting in a comfortable silence. Eventually Leo asked, "Where'd you get this blanket anyway? It's pretty high quality."

"Bob let me take it from the laundry rooms."

"Bob… the janitor?"

"Yeah. We sometimes end up in the same rooms and we get to talking." By 'end up in the same rooms' Nico meant that he hid in deserted rooms to think and Bob came in to clean and eventually they became something close to friends. "He's also the one who gave me the key to the astronomy room so I could borrow the telescope."

"Look at you, being social and making unlikely friends. I'm so proud, my little boy is growing up!"

"Don't be weird." Nico pulled a face, but regretted it immediately because of the smile it prompted Leo to summon.

"I really might end up as a pancake on the sidewalk below us before the night's up." Nico didn't miss that this was now Leo's loophole— a way to say 'you're cute' without actually saying it, therefore making it harder for Nico to tell him off for it. Because the code for 'you're cute' was already a threat. So Nico huffed to show his displeasure and got to his feet. Leo jumped up as well, as if worried Nico would try to storm off. But he wouldn't storm away from this, and it baffled him that Leo still didn't get that. Didn't get just how much Nico liked him. Nico went to the telescope and tried to find some of the constellations Bob had told him about. Soon, Leo came over and started pointing them out him.

"How do you know so much about astronomy?" Nico wondered once Lea finished telling him about Ursa Major.

"I ran away from almost every foster home I was put in. That's how I landed here, y'know. So I spent a lot of time camping. And that taught me lots of stuff. Survival stuff like foraging and cooking and fires. How to survive alone and not need or want anyone else. But I also spent a lot of time under the stars, and I guess I kind of fell in love with them. I like astrology more than astronomy though. The myths and stories behind them kind of lend to their magic, don't you think?"

"Yeah. I do. I always liked mythology."

"Like your card game."

"Like my card game," Nico agreed. "I didn't know how you felt about stars. I'm glad you like them. And their stories. That's the part I like, but I can't make shapes out of stars no matter how hard I try."

"I'm glad you like stars, too. Here, maybe you'll see the shapes better laying down." And with that, Leo situated himself on the blanket, looking up at he stars, and gesturing for Nico to join him. Nico did.

"Isn't it lonely to not want or need anyone besides yourself?" Nico asked, thinking back to Leo's own story.

"You tell me."

"Damn, I walked right into that one, didn't I?"

"You sure did. I don't know about you, but I'm glad I have people now. It was lonely. Hell, it was still lonely until you came along."

Nico could hear the rustle of the blanket as Leo readjusted himself. When he looked over, he came face to face with Leo. "You can't say those things to me or I'll never get over you," Nico breathed.

"Good. I don't want you to."

"Leo—" Nico's tone was a warning, but Leo didn't let him finish it.

"No, listen. You saved me from being an outsider. I always though I needed a girlfriend to fit in properly and to stop feeling so alone and isolated and I was so stuck on that idea that I didn't realize that spending time with you made me feel like me— whole and complete and not at all left out. Or, at least, if I was an outsider, you were too and it worked because I wasn't alone. But I still thought I needed something else. And Calypso was good at first because I thought she fixed things. That she and I were outsiders together. But that fucked with my relationship with you and the rest of everyone and I felt even worse and then— God, then I saw you with that figurine…"

"You never did tell me why that freaked you out so much."

"I'd been thinking about you a lot. About how I missed you and how sometimes being with you made me feel less alone than anything else has ever made me feel. And then I saw you with the figurine and I flashed back to that boy I used to know, back when life was good and simple and I thought about how I always felt connected and unalone when I was with him too, even though we were kids and never talked and the fact that maybe you were that kid… I guess it seemed like a sign. Like the universe wanted me to be with you. Like I wanted me to be with you. That's why I freaked out."

"Oh." Because what was there to say to that?

"Yeah."

"Leo?"

"Huh?"

"I love you." Nico knew his face was red and his voice shook slightly, but it seemed the right thing to say. The only thing to say. And it was the truth. "For eight years, I've loved you. So don't you go spouting nonsense you don't mean or—umph!" Nico didn't get to finish this warning either, because Leo had tugged him close, one arm wrapping under and around his back and the other finding the back of his head.

"I think maybe I really am an idiot. I think maybe I've loved you for eight years, too." And then Leo leaned into him and their lips met. This time, Nico felt the kiss as it was happening, and he responded by wrapping his own arms around Leo's back and grasping at his shirt, erasing any space that had been left between them. It was a tangle of limbs and lips from there, and the only emotions stirring inside Nico were happy ones. He loved Leo Valdez. And Leo Valdez loved him back.


	24. In Which Nico is Happy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is. The End. Finally. Sorry that it took so long, but here you have it. Thank you so much for sticking with me and for all your kind words! I've loved writing for this ship and I just hope it's been worth the wait. God, it'll be weird to not be working on this fic anymore. Four years of my life have gone into this thing… Anyway, goodbye, and thank you so much for reading!

DISCLAIMER: I don't know why I bother anymore. Everyone knows what this is and that its existence inherently means that I don't own shit. Somewhere along the four year journey this fic has been, disclaimers fell out of practice but I didn't get the memo. And, you know, old habits die hard and all that… So once more, for old time's sake. I do not own Percy Jackson. I just kidnapped the characters and dropped them in a high school for troubled kids.

So here it is. The End. Finally. Sorry that it took so long, but here you have it. Thank you so much for sticking with me and for all your kind words! I've loved writing for this ship and I just hope it's been worth the wait. God, it'll be weird to not be working on this fic anymore. Four years of my life have gone into this thing… Anyway, goodbye, and thank you so much for reading!

~~~oOo~~~

They ended up falling asleep on the roof, still tangled in each other and the blanket. It wasn't until noon that Nico begun to wake. It felt like a dream, hazy and comfortable and warm. He decided that waking up in Leo's arms was one of his favorite things in the world. Then he realized that the sun was up too high for him to be able to make first or second period.

"Shit," he exclaimed, pulling away from Leo and sitting up to rub at his eyes. Leo rolled on to his back and blearily opened his eyes.

"What's up?" He asked, tiredly blinking at Nico.

"We slept late."

"And?"

"And we missed at least the first half of school."

"It's no big deal. You never miss, you've earned a day off. And I don't care about school anyway, so why does it matter?"

"I don't like missing school." Nico insisted, and Leo shrugged.

"Alright, let's clean up and get to school, then. I bet it's almost lunch by now." Leo started gathering up the rest of the snacks and put them, along with the lamp, into the basket. "C'mon, get off the blanket and help me fold it." Nico did as he was told, but he was surprised— and pleased— that Leo was so willing to hurry and get to class even though he couldn't care less about it. It meant that, while Leo didn't care about school, he did care about Nico. That sent a thrill up Nico's spine. He didn't know if he'd ever stop feeling so amazed and delighted when he remembered that Leo liked him.

Nico took the telescope back to the astronomy room and Leo dropped the basket and blanket back in their dorm. Nico debated going back to his room and changing, but the bell had just rung for lunch and he wanted to eat. Besides, he was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, an outfit he had about twenty different combinations of, so who'd notice anyway?

"Nico, wait up," Leo jogged to meet him as he started into the cafeteria. Leo, Nico noticed, had taken the time to change. They got through the food line in record time because most everyone had already been through it. Nico held his box in one hand, letting the other one wonder to the figurine in his pocket for a moment. He gave it a small squeeze for comfort and his mind wondered to Bianca, wishing she could be here. That he could tell her who he was and that he was with someone…He withdrew his hand, not wanting to get worked up about that now. The important part was that Bianca would've been happy for him.

"So…" Leo started, then trailed off.

"So?" Nico prompted.

"I guess I kinda forgotten to clear this up, which is dumb because it's kinda important. But we're, uh, dating now, yeah?" Leo rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, smiling at Nico with apprehension.

"Yes— I mean, do you want to be?" Nico asked, then added "Dating?" for clarification, and a "Me?" for further clarification.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Then. Yes. I think we are."

"Great!" Leo beamed, and, after consideration, grabbed Nico's hand. Just as they arrived at their lunch table. Nico went red, but he was pleased, and squeezed Leo's hand to let him know that. Hazel noticed first, eyes snagging on their hands as she turned to greet them. Her pause made Frank look over too.

"Where were you two this morning?" He asked, unaware that anything was different, but giving Nico a curious look, obviously wondering what had him so embarrassed.

"We thought you guys might have finally killed each other," Jason said, eyes full of amusement. Everyone laughed, excluding Hazel, who's eyes were still locked on Leo's and Nico's intertwined fingers. Jason followed her line of sight. "Oh," his eyebrows shot up. He was a lot less subtle than Hazel about it, making everyone else search for the source of his surprise. They did, one by one.

"I knew it!" Piper shot at Leo, obviously thinking back to their 'thinly veiled hypothetical' conversations.

"Aha," Frank said, seeming to understand something. Likely why Nico's moods seemed to correlate with the state of his relationship with Leo.

"So, when did that happen?"Annabeth asked with a small smile.

"I told you so! I told you all that they're perfect together, but did any of you believe me? Noooooo. But I was right!" Percy yelled delightedly. "I was right about Frank and Hazel, and I was right about Leo and Nico. Really, why do you people doubt me?"

"Because you used lotion as conditioner for almost a month?" Annabeth supplied.

"You're not usually right about things, man." Jason offered.

"Phooey on you both. I am the ultimate match maker."

"Bullshit, you just made things worse," Nico snorted, putting his food on the table and slipping into place, pulling Leo along beside him.

"It's true," Frank affirmed. "You're shipping was nothing but mortifying."

"You can't spell mortifying without fun," Percy shrugged, earning a small punch in the shoulder form Annabeth. They went on, laughing and talking like all was normal, and Nico loved it. It was no big deal, really. They all accepted it without question and moved on.

"You could have told me, you know." Hazel told him softly from across the table.

"I know. But I only got around to telling myself a bit ago." Nico said, hoping Hazel wasn't offended he'd kept this from her.

"Alright, that's fair. Just…I'm here for you, okay?"

"Thank you. I'm still getting used to people being here for me, I guess." Nico offered her a smile and she returned it ten times over.

"I hope this doesn't mean our club is being disbanded," Frank cut in sheepishly. "I'm really getting into Mythomagic again."

"Ooh, I like playing Mythomagic with you guys too!" Piper slid easily into their conversation from her previous teasing of Percy.

"Don't worry, the clubs still going strong." Nico assured them.

"Wait, what club? And why would it be disbanded because of us?" Leo asked, brow furrowed. Nico smiled sweetly.

"Oh, no reason."

"I feel like I'm at the butt end of a hurtful joke."

"You are." Nico kissed his cheek lightly. "You can come to our next meeting. But we're not changing the name."

"Are you guys having secret meetings without us?" Percy demanded.

"That's pretty rude, Pipes, I can't believe you didn't invite me," Jason mock-pouted.

"You can all join, if you want." Nico shrugged.

"Perfect. We can hold meetings on the roof," Annabeth suggested. They were all enthusiastic about the idea.

"That's nice and all, but what's the name? Why won't you change it? Why do you think I'd want to change it? How am I the butt end of a mean joke?"

"It's called the Leo Valdez is a Little Shit Club." Nico grinned at Leo's offended expression and squeezed his hand under the table.

"I cannot believe that my own boyfriend is a member of such a rude and offensive club!"

"Co-founder, actually," Nico corrected. Everyone was laughing again, and Leo joined in.

Once conversation had moved on again, though, he leaned into Nico and whispered, "That's pretty cute of you, to start a club about me."

"Shut up," but his heart wasn't in it. He was too content to be miffed at being called cute.

"Make me; you can't." Leo grinned his impish grin and his eyes twinkled with mischief.

"We'll see." Nico said, then turned to join in the conversation with his friends. He felt happier than he'd thought he ever could after Bianca had died. There was still an ache for her in his chest, but he was surrounded by friends, and holding hands with the boy he loved, and laughing with his little sister, and life didn't seem so bad. Maybe this school was the best thing that'd ever happened to him.


End file.
